


Dog Days Ahead

by madmoddamdom



Category: Lupin III
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alcohol, Animal Transformation, Animal Violence, Asexual Goemon, Bastard OC, Dogs, F/M, Friendship, Heist, Just a Total Ass, Light Angst, M/M, Magic, Multi, Not a Lot Though DW, Ship Isn't the Focus But it is There Don't Worry, Slow Burn, Supernatural Elements, Transformation, is the best ship, stereotypical french names
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-07-22
Packaged: 2020-02-04 19:08:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 27,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18610684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madmoddamdom/pseuds/madmoddamdom
Summary: After a heated argument between Lupin and Jigen, having to do a heist the very next morning seems like the worst possible thing. They were right, but not for the reason they first thought. The gang will have to deal with a bastard Frenchman with a desire for world domination, a mysterious and magical idol, and a tight time limit for Jigen's humanity. Can they pull off one of their most important missions to date?





	1. Ruff Day Ahead

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to our first fic! Madmoddamdom is a joint effort between two college students with very little time but a lot of imagination (and love for old, especially gay, shows). Madmod (the one writing this!) also goes by Arc, and mainly betas but is also the writer of most of the nsfw content. Damdom is the main writer of the pair and is always on the lookout for more good shows for us to watch and obsess over. We both come up with concepts and help each other to develop our writing. We hope you enjoy! This fic will likely update every Sunday until it's completed.

“Your time is up, Jigen Daisuke.”

His mouth felt dry at the words.

The woman in front of him was indescribably beautiful, but in that moment Jigen felt only dread. She gazed steadily at him, her eyes as pitch black as a dog's, giving nothing away as the seconds ticked silently by. From his position she seemed larger than life, which only added to the intimidation factor of it all. And he should know, he had pulled stuff off like this a long time ago. Before the statue, before Cairo, and long before he'd met Lupin.

His name sent a pang of… something through him. Lupin, his boss, the greatest thief to ever walk the earth. Jigen was lucky to have met him and this situation only made his regrets of their last true conversation together even worse.

He laughed wearily. Actually their last big conversation had been an argument. It had started over something stupid, something Fujiko had or hadn't said, but whatever it was set them off big time. Jigen wasn't one to become truly angry that often, preferring to sit back and enjoy whatever curve life threw at him, so the need to argue had surprised him almost as much as it had surprised Lupin.

And Lupin, not one to ever be out done, had fired back just as harshly as Jigen had, if not more so. Jigen closed his eyes at the memory, needing to look away from the woman else the situational danger come crashing down around him.

_“Some thief you are!” A push._

_“Big words for just the hired gunslinger!” A shove._

_“Yeah I say so, you dumbass twink!” A blow to his pride._

_“Well newsflash, Jigen! I don't need you!” A bite straight for the jugular._

_I don't need you._

\---------------------------------------------------------

**Two Weeks Earlier**

Smoke wafted from his cigarette as he stared out over the city from his vantage point on the balcony, sunset casting a fiery glow to match his mood. Cairo was a bustling place full to the brim with potential marks, and the sounds of the ever present traffic and shouting of street vendors helped calm his nerves. Jigen’s hands shook as he took another drag, throwing a glance to the rising full moon on the horizon. The adrenaline from the fight earlier still coursed through his veins, fueling the anger that still burned inside of him.

Who did Lupin think he was, saying things like that? And all because of what Fujiko had said. Since when did he care about their constant snipping at each other? It wouldn't have escalated like it did if Lupin had just kept his big, dumb mouth shut, but that wouldn't be the Lupin Jigen knew if he did that.

The quips had started out innocently enough, Jigen and Fujiko’s usual back and forth. At least, it was all fine until she started comparing him to some sort of loyal mutt who would take just about anything thrown at it if it was for his master. It wasn't meant in a mean way, probably, just a sort of situational observation, but something about it hit a little too close to home.

Perhaps he had snapped back a little too harshly. If he had been in a better mood he wouldn't have responded to the jab at all, but shoulda woulda couldas and all that.

Lupin had jumped in then, loudly defending Fujiko’s honor. The situation had spiraled from there.

_“You’re so full of it! I’m the only reason we aren't poor and dying on the street, cause you can’t keep it in your pants for longer than five minutes!” Jigen yelled from his place by the bedroom door._

_“Oh that’s rich, that’s real rich coming from you. Well newsflash, Jigen! I don’t need you!” Lupin had had enough of Jigen’s attitude, and with his pride bruised he needed to give back even worse than he got._

_“Oh yeah? Well then consider me gone! After this job I’m out, so go fuck yourself on a cactus, you colossal dick!” Jigen stormed off, not bothering to look back and see the hurt face that Lupin had sported._

He shuddered at the memory, although he would blame it on the breeze if anyone had asked. After the fight, Jigen had stormed off to the balcony that connected to the only bedroom in the hotel and had slammed the door behind him. He couldn’t give a shit where Lupin had ended up, and he knows for a fact that Fujiko hadn’t moved from lounging on the couch in the living room.

He couldn’t be sure where Goemon had ended up, but he found he didn’t really care right now. Not when he felt so angry and shitty at the same time. And if he was honest with himself, he was also… hurt. Did he really mean so little to Lupin in the grand scheme of things?

For years they had been practically inseparable, basically living in each others’ pockets from one heist to the next. Jigen had thought, maybe even hoped, that that had translated to them being closer than anyone or anything else. Even Fujiko, who came and went at her own leisure, had no idea about the intimacies of Lupin. Like his deathly fear of octopi, or the long nights of insomnia, or that one time he forgot how to spell his own name for an entire day and Jigen had died laughing.

He chuckled at the memory, but stopped himself quickly because now he had a choice to make. He could stay out here until they had to leave for the museum that night. They could steal whatever it was Lupin was after and get out. The argument would have festered at that point, leaving all of them in an awkward silence. Then that night he could pack up and leave while they all slept and maybe even take the bounty for himself this time. See how Fujiko liked it. Unless, of course, she had stolen it by that point, which left that part of the plan moot.

He watched as a bus drove by on the streets below and came to rest with a squeal of its tires at a stop in front of the hotel. He took another drag and grimaced.

Or he could leave right now, slip past the others and collect his things. Be gone before they even noticed. He had money, they all did, so he could easily live out the rest of his life in comfort if he so wished. And in the unlikely event that he ever ran low on money, he could always start taking bodyguard positions again.

There was a third option, he admitted reluctantly to himself. He could do the heist, they could get back for the night and celebrate, and in the morning he could stay and act like the argument hadn't affected him that much. But it would prove Fujiko right, he realized ruefully, that Lupin could do just about anything he wanted to him and he'd still come to heel like the loyal bastard he was.

A group of three tourists exited the bus, laughing loudly. They were all obviously together and enjoying their time on vacation. The epitome of friendship. They probably never fought, and had equal respect for each other as people. Jigen wished he could relate. He leaned heavily on the railing and breathed out harshly, discarding his finished cigarette out into the street somewhere. He almost hoped it would land on one of the men, would serve them right for being happy while he wasn't.

The sound of the door to the balcony opening snapped him from his musings and he glanced back, almost expecting Lupin to be there to continue where they left off earlier. Instead, Goemon stepped out onto the balcony with him, moving to sit cross legged on the only chair out there.

“Are you alright, Jigen?” He asked, calmly addressing the man while gazing at the moon that was lighting up the night sky.

Jigen huffed and reached for another Pall Mall from the pack. His third one since coming outside. The silence stretched on as he lit the cigarette, taking his time. It was a good enough answer as any.

If Goemon had been anyone else, he might've squirmed at the lack of answer, but as it was he nodded his head in understanding. He was nice like that.

Jigen turned away from the view, facing Goemon now. A childish urge struck him and he blew a smoke ring, and watched as it floated up and out of sight. “Do you know how long me and Lupin have known each other?” He asked.

Goemon looked at Jigen and shook his head, confused about the subject change.

“We met when I was 23, and he was 22. I had been working jobs for five years at that point, and he'd been pulling heists for about three. It was an accident we even saw each other. I was hired to take out a high profile museum curator, and Lupin had been trying to steal something from his collection. Suffice to say, since then we've practically lived every day together.” He took another drag, while Goemon looked on with wide eyes. It wasn't often Jigen was sentimental enough to talk about his past, much less the beginnings of the Lupin gang.

“What Lupin said in there has me thinking… I guess he really doesn't need me, huh? Sixteen years together and I guess I really am just a convenient stooge to keep around. At least he's being honest I guess.”

Goemon shaking his head caught Jigen's eye, and he tilted his hat in curiosity. Goemon tightened his hold on Zantetsuken, his eyes blazing with passion. “You are wrong, my friend. You are an irreplaceable asset to this team. I could travel the world a hundred times over and still not find another warrior I'd rather have by my side in battle than you!”

The sheer honesty in his expression caused Jigen to turn away with a blush. He scratched his beard for lack of anything else to do. “That's good to know, but be careful with saying stuff like that or I might get a big head,” he chuckled, “but it doesn't stop the fact that it's your opinion.”

Goemon closed his eyes, but couldn't hide his own small blush at his earlier admission. “Were you serious before?”

Jigen turned back to him. He knew what he meant, but he waited for the rest of the question.

“...about leaving us?”

And that was the crux of the matter, wasn't it? He was hurt, angry and so tired of the constant wishy-washiness of Lupin’s mind that he craved the ability to just sit and not worry about anyone betraying him anymore. But he also knew himself well enough to know that he would grow incredibly bored of that kind of life quickly and would come crawling back within a week.

“Lupin doesn't need me, that much I got clear enough in there. So once we get that statue, unless I get some sort of record setting apology or something, I think I'm gonna take a break. After that… well, we'll see I guess.”

Goemon looked like he wanted to argue more, his face tense, but couldn't quite bring himself to disagree. Hesitantly, he stood and made his way back to the doors he came from. Stopping, he looked back again. “I cannot speak for either of you, but to have one without the other would destroy you both I believe. And, speaking for myself, I would miss you as well.” With that, he was gone, back to the living room where Fujiko was no doubt consoling Lupin the same way he had just been.

He turned back toward the city, noting that the bus was gone, and with it the tourists. He took the seat Goemon had vacated and stretched out. He had a lot of thinking to do and only two hours to do it. At that point he had a decision to make.

He just wasn't sure if it would be the right one or not.

\----------------------------------------------------------------

Like he had thought, the drive to the museum had been quiet and miserable.

When he had finally stepped into the living room, Fujiko and Goemon had been the only ones to acknowledge him. Lupin had stubbornly refused to look up from the map of the Cairo Museum.

And honestly, that had been fine with him. It certainly helped Jigen do the exact same thing as he settled on the couch to hear their plan of attack. However what followed was a plainly ridiculous version of charades as Lupin did his absolute best to tell Jigen his part of the plan without talking to him directly. That had been a bit annoying.

Once he got the general gist of the plan, (he was Lupin’s backup, as usual, and would be guarding the room while Lupin slipped in and claimed their prize), they gathered whatever gear they would need and loaded the car.

Lupin’s yellow Fiat wasn’t the biggest car around. In fact, it was honestly a beat up old junker, but Lupin had a soft spot for it. Usually the only ones who sat in it were Lupin and Jigen. Goemon rode too, of course, but he mostly sat on the top unless they had to be discreet.

Fujiko would drive her motorcycle, having said that she wouldn’t step foot in the Fiat if she could help it. She reasoned that she had an image to maintain, and being seen in such a terrible car would destroy her credibility. This time however, discretion was key, and 12:00 a.m. saw them all packed like awkward sardines inside.

The mood was still tense, so Jigen abandoned his usual shotgun position and instead sat in the back with Goemon. This had visibly thrown Lupin for a second, as if something so ingrained in habit had just shifted terribly, but he shook it off quickly enough.

No one spoke the whole ride there, and when they did finally arrive the only things spoken were short directions and reminders on what everyone needed to do.

There was only one security guard at the front, who was easy enough to distract when Fujiko wandered over with her “lost and frightened tourist” routine. Their main concern for more guards would have to be dealt with once they reached the main viewing room where their prize was displayed.

From there, it was a breeze to slip in and have Goemon take care of any security measures and lock the doors with his Zantetsuken. Lupin and Jigen then left him to stand guard near the exit as they raced for the inner sanctum of the Museum; the place where their prize awaited.

And suddenly their argument from earlier was all but forgotten as the adrenaline from a seemingly successful heist kicked in. Jigen couldn’t help but grin at the feeling, because this… this was what he lived for. Why he continued following Lupin into ridiculous situations that turned into adventures of a lifetime.

Lupin looked back to see how close he was, and he felt a grin alight upon his face. For the first time that night they smiled together, matching each other excitement for excitement. The anger from earlier had melted away, replaced with the warm feeling of camaraderie and… something he couldn't put a specific word to. It was the same feeling he got anytime it was just them two, so in sync that they could probably read each other’s thoughts if they so desired.

And suddenly Jigen knew that no matter what happened tonight, he wasn’t going anywhere. He wouldn’t, couldn’t, leave this thrill behind. Couldn’t bear the thought of never sharing moments like these again with Lupin, of throwing him to some metaphorical wolves. Maybe Lupin didn’t need him, could probably find loads more hired guns to take his place, but Jigen would never find another Lupin.

With these thoughts in mind, they both came swiftly upon the archway of the inner sanctum. No time for inner musing then. They hid on either side of it as Lupin went for a team check in.

“Fujicakes! Speak to me baby, how’s that guard doing?”

A bit of static came from their ear pieces. “Well, he’s gonna have the worst headache of his life tomorrow, but he’ll live. Checking the rest of the outdoor perimeter now.”

Lupin smirked. “Goemon, any sign of potential problems?”

Another round of static. “Negative. I have not seen another soul since we have entered the building. All is quiet.”

Lupin glanced at him next, eagerness clear as day as he reached for his own Walther pistol. They both knew the layout of the room beyond them. Pictures printed out from Google and hacked blueprints gave them insight to even the most obscure corners. It was Jigen’s job to move in first, take down as many guards as he could get, and then leave the way open for Lupin to reach the Idol.

But there was something off about the situation, and Jigen couldn’t help but tense as suddenly something dawned on him. Ever since they had entered the Museum, something had been missing, but he had been too blinded by personal feelings to take it in. After some daytime surveillance and even more illegal hacking, they all knew how many guards there were supposed to be.

In all, there should have been over 20 guards scattered about the place. The one out front had lulled them into a false sense of danger, but since then they hadn't seen another living soul. He had just assumed they were in the main hall, behind the archway behind them. But no one is entirely silent, and 19 men do make at least a little noise, especially those who aren't aware of anything wrong. The room beyond them was completely silent.

Lupin had obviously not noticed these things himself and continued on with his whispered instructions. “...then you’ll dive behind cover taking out the last two men while I grab the statue! Now on three, alright Jigen?” He raised his hand to count down silently, but Jigen needed to see for himself that his theory was correct or not, consequences be damned. Quickly, long before Lupin had started to count, Jigen rolled into the main sanctum gun drawn, ready to be proven wrong if his theory wasn’t correct.

Nothing happened.

Because just as he thought, there were no guards. Or to clarify, there were guards. Just none of them nearly as conscious as they should be.

Lupin floundered in surprise. “Jigen! What the hell?! What about the plan? God, be careful before you’re shot dead!” He reached out to pull Jigen back behind cover, but Jigen waved him off and stood up from his crouch.

“Lupin we’ve got a problem.” He yanked Lupin toward him to prove his point.

Lupin, who had been thrown for a loop at just how quickly his plan had fallen apart, blinked as he took in the scene before him. The color drained from his face as he realized, just like Jigen had, that something was very, very wrong with this situation. That feeling tripled as they both looked to the middle of the room, where the Idol should have been. He fumbled for his ear piece in a rush.

“Goemon, Fujiko, come in. We’ve got a problem.”

Static answered them, but nothing else.

Lupin cursed as Jigen gripped his Magnum, ready for anything to happen at any moment. Lights flashed on in the dark room, blinding the two men briefly.

“Good evening, gentlemen. I am so dreadfully sorry about this, but it appears you’ve arrived a little late to my party.”


	2. All Bark, No Bite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As always, Lupin and Jigen have gotten themselves into a bit of a bind. Time for the bastard Frenchman OC tag to apply! And to introduce a hunky... human?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the feedback we've been getting! It definitely helps us to stay motivated, since we thrive off of validation like any other writers out there. We appreciate all of the kudos and especially the comments, it really means a lot to us. The plot is going to pick up from here and get a hell of a lot more interesting, so we hope you'll stick with us for the ride!  
> -MMDD

After their vision returned to normal, the first thing Lupin was aware of was being surrounded by armed men. Which isn't great, because while Jigen might have been the best gunslinger in the world, even he couldn't take on 20 armed men with assault rifles before they ended up killing them both.

Outnumbered and clearly in a bind, Lupin raised his hands in surrender. Jigen, who stood next to him, just gripped his Magnum tighter, looking desperately for any weakness from the goons.

A tall, pale European man holding the obsidian idol sauntered out to the middle of the room. Jigen let out a groan at the pose he struck leaning against a pillar. He both walked and dressed as though he was made of money, and his hairstyle might as well have made him a patented Asshole. Lupin wasn’t impressed in the slightest. If anything, he was disgusted. He had seen better theatrics from middle school plays.

The Asshole chortled and slowly descended the small set of stairs that surrounded the Idol's resting place.

“Oh Monsieur Lupin, what an absolute pleasure running into each other in a place like this. What _are_ the odds, hm?”

Lupin barked out a laugh, mind racing a mile a minute. “Yeah, pretty wild. Though I’m afraid I don’t have the pleasure of knowing who you are? Not subscribed to 'Asshole Weekly’ anymore, sorry.”

The Asshole laughed again, in that annoying way rich assholes do, and finally came to rest a few feet away from where Lupin and Jigen stood, Idol still clutched in his obviously manicured hands. “Well that is truly a shame my good sir, I’m just so used to everyone knowing my name that the idea that you wouldn’t never even crossed my mind! Allow me kindly to introduce myself. I am known around the world as the great Jean Pierre!” He paused as his voice echoed around the chamber, as if expecting some sort of recognition from the two thieves. There was none.

Lupin scratched his head and glanced to Jigen for his opinion. He only shrugged, a quiet confused sound coming from him. Knowing that Jigen, a man who’s well established with the criminal underworld, had no idea who this guy was made Lupin feel better.

For the first time since encountering Pierre, he looked flustered and thrown. “Surely you’ve heard of my name? My exploits and grandeur? I’m one of the richest men this side of the equator!”

Lupin gave a shrug of his own. “Sorry buddy, we meet a lot of important rich guys. Guess you just weren’t important enough to come up.”

Pierre's face flushed red, his perfectly coiffed hair falling slightly as he shook with rage. But in a moment he calmed himself down, giving a pompous smirk as he ran a hand through his hair.

‘Oh man,’ thought Lupin, ‘is he gonna monologue? I hate it when they monologue’.

He began to monologue.

“Monsieur Lupin, I am fully aware of why you’re here. And I also know that at the moment, I have what you seek. Who is truly the important one now then, hm? The most clever in this matchup for the ages?” He held up the Idol in triumph, and for the first time Lupin had a clear look at it.

It was… actually smaller then he would’ve thought, but was still probably a good 12 inches long. It was shaped like a sitting dog, maybe a jackal or something, and was pure black in color, made of solid obsidian. Embedded delicately in its neck was a collar made of blood red diamonds. It was its eyes, though, that actually first caught Lupin's attention all those weeks ago. They were glittering padparadscha sapphires, perfectly cut and very, very expensive. When he had picked up the newspaper that day and saw it was going on display at the Cairo Museum for the first time, he just knew he had to have it.

And now that nearly supernatural beauty was in the disgustingly silky hands of some asshole with no respect for the art of thievery. Lupin was sort of insulted. Actually, no, he was full on _insulted_.

Pierre continued on. “You can thank that stunning mademoiselle of yours for this, my friend. Such a touchingly kind woman, to allow us in through the back while you played a simple thief around the front.”

From the corner of his eye, Lupin saw Jigen slowly side-eye him with an expression of pure distaste. Lupin winced. “God damnit Fujiko”, he whispered softly, but with feeling.

“Of course, unfortunately for the lovely miss, I simply couldn't just let her have this wonderful treasure. And doesn't it look so fitting in my hands? So, I sadly had to send 10 of my men to collect her and your little toy samurai. I suppose you should be more… confined as well”. He motioned towards the goons closest to Lupin and Jigen, and they grabbed the pair forcefully.

Jigen let out a grunt as he was roughly disarmed, but he wouldn’t be the Jigen Lupin knew without a few smart words. “Good luck with that, pal. A few men who just do what you say because you have money aren’t gonna take down the best samurai in the world. Absolutely no heart in that, and they’re probably gonna get theirs cut out because of it. You really think they’re paid enough for this shit? But I guess you wouldn’t want to get your own hands dirty, yeah? Or even give your close friends here benefits. Do they even got dental?”

For the first time, Pierre looked at Jigen. Unlike with Lupin, who he gave at least a smidgen of respect to, his sneer spoke volumes. “From one alpha thief to another, my friend, you really shouldn’t allow the hired help to speak. Truly they never have anything important to say. Really their only use is to fire shots and take hits”. As if to emphasize his point, he nodded with a smirk towards the goon on Jigen’s right, who reared back and struck him in the gut before Jigen could react.

Jigen doubled over coughing instantly, but it was Lupin who winced the most. It seemed like forever ago by this point, but their argument still hovered over the both of them. With his hatred building for this French bastard, he struggled against the hired goons holding him back. “Stop it! Goddamnit, stop hurting him! You got the Idol fair and square, so just take it and go. You beat me, and you've got all that money waiting for you. But you must not actually have that much if you need to start stealing. What, blown through all of your old man's blood money?” he growls out.

Pierre's suddenly gleeful look made his blood run cold. He started murmuring as his gaze moved to the Idol with wonder. “Ah, but it's not the money I'm after, monsieur Lupin. I have no need of that, as you say. I thought a talent such as yourself knew the true value of this treasure here, though I suppose I was mistaken. This Idol is something far more important than a beautiful, yet simple, statue”. He began pacing, waving a stoic man over.

“You see, it was my great-great-grandfather who discovered this Idol all those years ago. A relic some savages had brutally held until it was finally saved from them by his worthy hands. And it was from him that a wondrous, magical story was passed down generation to generation until,” he waved a hand towards himself proudly, “finally it was told to _moi_.”

He lifted the Idol high above his head, marveling as it caught the light of the full moon above. “He who wields the Idol has the power to create and wield an army of endlessly loyal subjects! And who, my dear companion, deserves this power more than myself?” He laughed maniacally, tickled with himself.

Lupin broke into a cold sweat, not because this asshole seemed to pose any sort of threat directly, but because he’d seen things in his life as weird as an Idol that could create an army. So he knew that, maybe, just maybe, this guy wasn't totally full of it.

Pierre stopped pacing and placed his hand on the man he had gestured to. He was tall, muscular, and with a buzzcut and plenty of scars to match. His face was stone as Pierre pat his cheek. “You have your guard dog, monsieur Lupin, but this one is all mine. Clause Sawyer, the meanest help money can buy. Doesn't talk back, and a deadly shot to top it off. But none of that is useful to me now. It is he who will help me demonstrate the power of the Idol and educate you!” The man scowled at Jean at the mention of his name.

Jigen let out a tiny gasp, seemingly to himself, “Klaus Sauer?” Though Lupin thought it was quiet enough for only him to hear, it earned a nearly imperceptible nod and smirk from the man in question. This Klaus guy was obviously someone that Jigen was aware of, unlike Pierre. ‘Guess he wasn't blowing smoke then,’ Lupin thought, apprehensively.

Klaus, who still hadn’t uttered a word, suddenly shed his jacket and began to unbutton his shirt. Lupin could still see Jigen, who looked like he was struggling not to swoon a little. Lupin couldn’t really fault him for that though. This Klaus guy was built like an Olympian. Or like one of those models in Jigen's magazines.

Pierre loudly cleared his throat and narrowed his eyes at the pair, demanding their attention yet again. “Monsieur Lupin, what you are about to witness is absolute power, the kind of which you have never seen before! And likely never will again,” he paused with a chilling chuckle, “Truly, who else is more worthy to be in control of such power than myself?”

Lupin would never know exactly what happened next. It wasn't exactly a blink and you miss it kind of deal, over and done with in a second, but instead so insane that he couldn't recount it properly if he even tried. There was a glint from the Idol, reflecting the light of the full moon that filtered in through the large window above. Then, a flash. For a moment, Lupin thought someone had thrown a flash grenade, but there was no explosion. Just the beginning of a low, barely-human sound.

Lupin did his best to blink the dots away from his vision quickly. When his vision cleared, he was horrified at what he saw. Klaus had doubled over in agony, howling in pain and clutching his head as… _something_ began to happen. He stumbled back blindly before tripping and falling on all fours, unable to do anything but scream.

Hair started to grow out from every bit of his skin that they could see. There were human ears, until there weren’t. There were human hands, until there weren’t. And there was definitely a human before them… until there wasn’t.

Lupin was no longer looking at the strong, silent, and hunky hitman that had previously been standing before him and Jigen, but was instead suddenly staring at what was no doubt a dog lying unconscious on the ground. A German shepherd, specifically. He’d seen enough of them while being chased by police to be sure about that.

“What the actual fuck,” whispered Jigen, his eyes wide enough to spot beneath the brim of his hat.

Pierre’s pleased cackle echoed around the room.

“And now, Monsieur, I would like to give you a look at the rest of your future,” he stated as he calmly leveled the glinting, wolfish eyes of the Idol to Lupin’s own horrified ones. “It will be quite the pleasure working with you.” He grinned maniacally as moonlight struck the Idol, the glow growing rapidly.

The last thing Lupin recognized before the light became blinding was a desperate cry from Jigen. Then light, too much light, headed right for him.


	3. New Leash On Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something's changed, and now Lupin will have to figure out both an escape plan and how to save a new, but old, friend's hide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey folks! It's that lovely, lovely time of year again where college students retreat into their dorms and cry while studying for hours on end - finals week! Or, at least it's next week. So both of us have decided that it's probably a good idea to try and pass our classes and study over the weekend. But since we post on the weekends, we've moved this upload just a few days early. Hope you all enjoy, and see you next week!
> 
> \- MM

There was a sound echoing and growing throughout the room, an inhuman screaming. Lupin opened his eyes, blinking in shock when he realized he still had human eyes _to_ blink. Groans on his right caught his attention for a moment and he saw two goons unsteadily standing up. The same goons who had been holding… “Jigen!”

As soon as he had that thought, the brutal screams turned into weak whimpers. Lupin's head snapped around, and, just as he feared, Jigen was curled up on the ground in pain. Lupin instantly started struggling against his own captors, trying in vain to reach his best friend.

Pierre scowled as he took in the prone figure on the ground. He flicked his hand, and his goons rapidly stood to attention again, ignoring the moans of pain coming from below. “Such a loyal… guard dog, you have, monsieur Lupin, but such a foolish one as well,” he sharply nodded and the closest goons kicked Jigen away and out of sight. Jigen let out a sharp cry of pain at the contact before devolving back into quiet whimpers.

Lupin doubled his efforts to escape, desperate to reach him - to see his best friend and do something, anything, to help him, comfort him. But brute strength was never his strong suit, so all he could do was dangle and kick uselessly from the arms of the goons.

Klaus, who had quietly regained consciousness during this ordeal, stood up on his new paws shakily. He tentatively took his place by Pierre's side, and Lupin could've sworn he glanced at Pierre with contempt.

Pierre placed a controlling hand on Klaus' head and shrugged noncommittally to Lupin. “Well, no need to concern yourself with that fool anymore I suppose. He'll have to suffer through his mistake. Truly, doesn't it seem like a fitting fate for a guard dog? But that still hasn't put a stop to my plans,” he lifted the Idol once more, “nor can anything else, Monsieur. Nothing will stop me from getting what I want once I've begun.”

Events were rapidly spiraling out of Lupin’s control. He racked his mind for any sort of plan, any brilliant idea, but none would save him in time. He needed a miracle, or some sort of divine intervention, but that hardly ever happened except when...

A loud crash from further in the museum made everyone in the room flinch. Immediately after, a yell echoed into the chamber and Lupin laughed with relief as his "divine" intervention closed in.

"LUPIN!" That voice belonged to the one and only man who would have guessed that Lupin would break into this exact museum on this exact night: Inspector Zenigata.

Pierre cursed under his breath before rapidly placing the Idol into a bag hanging from his waist, fury etched into his face. “That damn inspector is too smart for his own good. Men, move out!" In seconds, the gaggle of goons previously filling the room hustled out through the emergency exit, stepping over unconscious guards all the way.

As the pounding of footsteps faded away, Pierre and Klaus were the only ones left standing in front of Lupin, who was finally released by the two men holding him. They moved like shadows to guard Pierre, guns raised and pointed at Lupin in case he decided to do anything dramatic.

The sounds of a bustling police force were getting closer, but they seemed to be scouting out the rest of the building and blocking it off before getting to the main room.

Pierre grinned cruelly, a deep-seeded ugliness in his soul shining through his pale eyes. He clutched the bag containing the Idol. “I suppose this is where we must part ways, my future companion. Of course, you know this isn’t the last we’ll see of each other. I’m sure it will be a very short while until our next meeting, and I’ll be sure to make it a truly special, life-changing experience for you.” He chuckled lowly and walked away smoothly, his entourage following closely behind.

When he arrived at the door, he paused, as if remembering something. He turned back around to face Lupin with a pompous air, “Oh and before I forget… No need to thank me.”

He gestured lazily and the two guards next to him grabbed Lupin's Walther and Jigen's Magnum and tossed them away into the middle of the chamber. Pierre spun on his heel and began walking again. “To give you a chance," He sing-songed over his shoulder. Then, he was gone.

Lupin froze and waited, stock-still, until he was absolutely sure that this wasn't a trick. As soon as he felt safe enough, he raced to his own gun first, knee sliding against the ground in his haste, before scooping up Jigen's Magnum.

Spinning around, he desperately searched for Jigen, but what he saw drew him up short.

Jigen’s suit was crumpled and torn, with his hat laying a few feet away. And, standing right in the middle, was a very, very confused mutt.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jigen was… aware that something had changed. In fact, he was quite sure he was different - human - not a minute before this. The familiar clothes surrounding him confirmed that, but looking down at himself explained pretty easily why they were there, on the ground, and not on his… body at the moment.

Paws, lanky legs, and long ears pinned back with fear - and wasn’t it odd that he could feel them doing that? He shakily stood up on four legs that would not listen to him completely just yet, and shook his head, which led to an involuntary full body shake that brought the long, fluffy fur on his head and tail into focus.

This situation was pretty far from ideal. Jigen would be the first to admit that. But there wasn’t time to freak out, because there was a bigger problem right now to deal with than this new lease on life.

He could remember things, sure, like his life as a bodyguard and hitman, or his preferred choice of weapon. Hell, he even knew that that asshole Pierre was the one who got him into this bitch of a situation. But the issue was that there were… holes.  Information that should have been there, but wasn’t. Why he was at this museum, or even where he was living at the moment? That was what really concerned him.

‘One thing at a time,’ he thought to himself as he forced himself to begin compartmentalizing this situation. ‘First things first, my hat.’ Thankfully, it was only about a foot away from where he was. Easy enough. And, even though his legs were shaking like a newborn deer's, he valiantly managed to walk over to where his hat lay on the floor.

He was just about to try and figure out how to put on a hat without thumbs when movement from the center of the room caught his attention. There was a man, tall and strangely reminiscent of a monkey. He stood towering above Jigen, in his hands two guns. Jigen instantly recognized one as his own Magnum, which made him growl softly because one of his prized possessions was currently in the hands of a potential threat.

That's when he also became aware of rapidly growing shouting from the hallway behind him. Loud cries of "Get over here!" and "Search every room, men!" reached his ears clearer than any of the other voices.

The man, still reminding Jigen of a freakishly lanky monkey, cursed under his breath and quickly put away the guns (including Jigen’s!). He then rushed over to gather Jigen’s discarded suit that was still piled up on the ground.

"Shit, come on Jigen we gotta get out of here before Pops shows up." He reached out to grab Jigen’s hat but froze in his tracks with wide eyes.

It took a moment for Jigen to realize that he was growling, his fur bristling and ears back. He knew he didn't want this strange man stealing his hat, it was his! Dog instincts really were instinctual, it seemed.

The man looked concerned at first, hand out, but after a few seconds of this tense face-off, his face changed. Jigen couldn't be sure at first how to describe it, but the man's face looked… hurt. Or, as Jigen’s new sense of smell told him, this man was devastated.

"Ji- Jigen? Hey buddy, you alright?"

Jigen continued to growl, because who the hell would be alright with being turned into a fucking dog and then having a stranger try to steal their hat?

The color drained from the man’s face. "Buddy, you recognize me right? It's me, Lupin. Do you," he paused and gulped nervously, "you know me, Jigen, right?"

And suddenly, he did. _Frustration, Happiness, Love._ Of course! This man was Lupin, the dumbass Lupin who Jigen had known for years! How could he have forgotten _Lupin?_

He stopped growling, and he felt his new tail tentatively begin to wag as his ears perked up.

Lupin, _his Lupin,_ breathed a deep sigh of relief and gently reached out and placed his hand on Jigen’s head. "Yeah, there we go. Probably couldn't see me through all that fuzz in your eyes, huh?"

Lupin brushed some dangling fur away from his eyes and, oh! Was that what dogs felt when humans pet them? Because damn, sign him up for some more of that! He closed his eyes in puppy bliss, his tail now wagging a mile a minute.

Lupin chuckled wearily and tapped Jigen’s nose with a finger. "Come on buddy, we gotta get out of here." He then carefully scooped up Jigen’s hat, the only other person allowed to, and stood up. He began a steady jog towards the back exit, keeping an eye on Jigen to make sure he was loyally keeping up.

And to his credit, Jigen was. The slick tiled floor was a bit of a problem for his new paws, but something overcome easily enough with only a little bit of awkward sliding. They had just reached the door out when, from the front of the room, the cavalry finally burst in with a cacophony of noise and broken door hinges.

"Lupin!" Bellowed Zenigata, focused solely on catching the thief, practically tripping over himself in his haste. And, then, actually tripping over an unconscious guard on the floor and almost landing on his face.

The pair continued to run, but Lupin glanced back over his shoulder, a grin across his face. "Sorry Pops! Can't stick around this time, something kind of important's come up! See ya around!"

Zenigata struggled to his feet, managing to get out one last shout of protest before Lupin was out of sight.

And just like that, Jigen and Lupin were gone, racing off into the night like the devil was on their tails. Or, at least, Jigen's.


	4. When the Devil's On Your Tail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jigen's a dog and Lupin has to find help - time to get the team back together!

Lupin was honestly fairly proud of himself for keeping his emotions in check. Maybe if he wasn’t on the run he might have given himself some time to really freak out over the whole ‘Jigen is a fucking dog’ situation, but, as it stood, he forced himself to will those thoughts away and replace them with the desire to get back to their hotel  _ right this instant _ .

The Fiat had been missing when he went to check, which hopefully meant that Goemon and Fujiko had been able to pull a fast one on anyone chasing them. Unfortunately, this meant that any sort of quick escape for Lupin and Jigen needed to be handled on foot (and paw). Which would probably be much easier if they were just two normal humans and not a shell-shocked man and an odd mutt who was used to half as many legs as he currently had.

Lupin paused in an alleyway to catch his breath, now only a few blocks away from the safety of their hotel. Jigen, 100% more fluffy and oddly adorable in his panting, stopped as well. He hadn’t left Lupin's side once, which gave Lupin some hope that this mutt in front of him was still  _ his _ Jigen under all that floof.

Back at the museum, when Jigen didn’t seem to recognize him at first, Lupin had panicked. They had no clue about the details of the Idol’s powers, and especially not about the side effects or dangers of it. What if Jigen… wasn’t Jigen anymore? The idea that his best friend was suddenly just a mindless dog who didn’t even know him, and not his brilliant, gun-slingin’ partner, nearly destroyed Lupin inside right then and there.

Jigen plopped down next to him, panting up a storm but seemingly fine otherwise. They had been running for a while, to the point that the sunrise was starting to bleed over the horizon, so Lupin understood his exhaustion. Neither of them had heard police sirens for about half an hour now, so it was probably as good a time as any to rest for a bit.

He let his body slowly slide down the wall of the alley, letting out a sigh of relief. Jigen followed his lead with a little doggy huff. Lupin glanced at his companion with a fond smile, allowing himself a moment to finally fully take in Jigen’s new look.

It was actually kind of impressive how much he still looked like himself. Unlike Klaus, who was clearly a pure-bred German Shepard, Lupin couldn’t be sure of anything about Jigen except that he was some sort of mutt. But whatever he was, it still, somehow, was clearly Jigen.

Long fur on his head dangled over his eyes like bangs, and a small tuft of fur on his chin gave anyone looking at him the impression of a beard. He was tall, too, easily reaching Lupin’s hips when he stood, but still lanky, with a mess of long, skinny limbs that he was learning how to use. His tail was long and fluffy, but besides that and his head, his fur was mostly short and rough-looking all over his body.

And, quite honestly, the situation would’ve been absolutely hilarious if panic wasn’t still coursing through Lupin’s mind. He reached out to Jigen, who craned his head forward to sniff at the hand offered. “Hey, uh, buddy…” He trailed off, unsure of how to put all of his thoughts into words. And a bit unsure of how he would even get an answer.

Jigen huffed out a low, gravelly sound, the strange bark echoing softly in the alley. It sounded almost indignant, and very tired; oddly similar to Jigen’s usual grunts, which Lupin was practically a master at deciphering after years of dealing with Jigen while he was grumpy and didn’t feel like uttering a word.

Lupin moved his hand between Jigen’s ears and began petting him tentatively, a mixture of relief and anxiety causing a laugh to bubble up out of him. “Well, I’m not sure what I thought would happen, but I guess we can’t talk for a while. Good thing I’m used to translating for you anyways, huh buddy?”

Jigen was too busy enjoying the pats to honestly care about what Lupin was saying, tail going a mile a minute. Lupin laughed louder this time, because no matter how he felt about the situation, this was some cute shit. He gave one last ruffle to Jigen’s pointy ears and removed his hand, standing up and dusting off his clothes - much to Jigen’s visible disappointment.

“Come on Jigen, home’s just around the corner. Here’s to hoping that the others are already there, we’re gonna need all the help we can get.”

Jigen gave another bark, sharper this time and sounding a bit excited, and stuck close to Lupin’s heels as they set off again. Lupin glanced down at his friend, the last echoes of his laughter fading quickly from the alley, and hoped desperately that there was a fix for this mess they were in.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fujiko could admit to herself that maybe, just maybe, the situation they found themselves in was her fault. Only a little bit, though, and she would never admit it out loud.

In her defense, that French bastard had seemed like an idiot, a charlatan, a simple trust fund brat who was getting too big for his breeches. He was an easy target.

How was she supposed to know in the beginning that his ego was bigger than she had thought? She had practically spoon fed him a way to take the Idol out from under Lupin’s nose, and Pierre had gone and fucked it all up. Instead of listening to her, like anyone with any sense should, he decided he wanted to make his own plan because of his hard-on for Lupin.

Sure, breaking in with over 30 armed men wasn’t much of a plan, or very unique, but it was still effective. She had been lucky enough to run into Goemon slicing his way through the goons as they were both running to avoid capture, and they floored it the instant they both jumped into the Fiat, hoping for the best for the other half of their team. Unfortunately, both their earpieces had been destroyed in the chaos, so neither of them had any way of keeping tabs on Lupin or Jigen.

And maybe as long as she was still admitting things to herself, Fujiko felt a little... guilty about the whole thing. If Lupin or Jigen got hurt because of her poor judgement call, she’d... well, no, she wouldn’t be too upset, but she’d just have to make it up to them. And she despised being indebted to someone because of her own mistakes. 

She could almost see Lupin in front of her already, bandaged head to toe, whining on the couch as she was forced to take care of his every whim. Jigen would be easier to handle at least; he always was. He would just snip at her to leave him alone and then ignore her, easy as that. It was a decent dynamic, she had to admit. She wasn’t going to even consider the other, much worse, possibilities.

She had plenty of time to come up with some very convincing excuses though, since both her and Goemon had reached the hotel hours ago. Goemon had claimed the single wooden chair facing the door, meditating over their failures. Fujiko knew that he felt guilty for leaving the others behind, and that the only reason he hadn’t gone after them was because of her.

Stuck between a rock and a few automatic rifles, he had saved her from certain death at the very last moment. They had had to make a quick getaway however, the goons and guns seemingly doubling every moment - like a particularly ugly and incredibly well-armed hydra.

Goemon hadn’t spoken a word since arriving back to the hotel, but his stiff posture told her he was just as… no, not worried, she was absolutely not worried about Lupin and his stupidity, or Jigen, who always escaped danger like a cockroach...  _ concerned _ about their missing companions. 

Fujiko sat on the plush couch in the middle of the room, trying to distract herself with terrible early morning tv, but couldn’t focus her mind on anything but being constantly on the edge of her seat, waiting for the return of those two… idiots. Just as she was about to doze off to the dull sounds of Cairo’s early morning weather report, there was a pounding at the door.

She would’ve thought the knocking was the cleaning service, and was almost ready to take out her anxiety on the poor cleaning lady, had it not been for the unique pattern behind it. The gang had taken to learning secret knocks for any time they might be split up and needed to know when to let someone into a hideout - or not - while regrouping. They changed every other month, just to be safe, so the knock at the door was definitely Lupin’s obnoxiously fast rapping. Goemon, who had moved moments before the knock actually came, stood cautiously by the door, ready for anything to go wrong just in case their secret had been blown.

Fujiko got up silently to look through the peephole, and tension escaped her body instantly when she saw Lupin’s stupid, beautiful, and  _ alive _ face. She gave a nod to Goemon, who stood down, and opened the door. She began sobbing. The tears before that were just a warmup, of course.

“Oh, Lupin, my love! Thank goodness you're alright! I was so worried about you, that terrible, hideous man caught me by surprise behind the museum and I’ve just felt so awful about it. Did you get the Idol?” She went to wrap her arms around him, to really sell it and to check for herself if he still managed to get the idol, but he side-stepped her quickly.

He went further into the room, a large black bag in his arms. “Sorry Fujiko, no time for excuses right now, though I’ll be happy to hear them in the bedroom later - we have a problem”. He placed the bag on the floor with a surprising amount of softness and spun around to face them. His grin that was suddenly plastered across his face came off as false, but he looked fine - at least not visibly injured. 

Goemon sheathed Zantetsuken and took a tentative step forward. “Lupin, what occurred tonight?” He looked around, as if remembering something, suddenly nervous. “...And where is Jigen?”

Fujiko stiffened, vividly remembering Jigen’s vow to leave, though it felt like so long ago at this point. Had he really gone through with it? Fed up with all of the failures and deception, had he truly gone and left them behind? She never thought he would’ve had it in him, always too enamored with Lupin that she didn’t think he’d ever be able to leave him.

‘ _ Or maybe _ ,’ a traitorous little thought ran through her mind, turning her blood to ice, ‘ _ he didn’t have a choice _ .’ It was hard to imagine Jigen, the fastest gunman alive, getting shot down, but with the number of goons there that night...

Goemon must’ve had the same thought as her, because he began to lower his head in respect. Or maybe to hide the tears welling up in his eyes, Fujiko wasn’t sure. She desperately tried to think of something to say, anything that would release the terrible… feelings from inside her.

But surely if he were dead, wouldn’t Lupin be more devastated? But then again, Lupin wasn’t even close to the best when it came to his own emotions. Where others would mourn during a tragedy, Lupin was more likely to find the one at fault and destroy their life in a manic revenge scheme. For all they knew, that black bag could have Pierre’s body in it and he was here to ask for help with hiding it. And honestly, Fujiko wouldn’t put it past him.

Lupin awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, an odd expression finding its way across his face as he pointed his thumb towards the sack... that was now moving on its own and making odd whining noises. He started and rushed over to the bag. “Oh crap, sorry Jigen! Need some help there buddy? Here…” and then, suddenly, the bag fell away to reveal a fluffy head - with a lacy, bright pink brassiere dangling off of it.

Fujiko lifted an eyebrow and gave a worried glance to Goemon, who wore a similar expression. She pointed toward the mutt, who was frustratedly trying to paw off the offensive garment, and looked at Lupin. “Lupin, sweetie? This isn’t Jigen, this is a dog. Not a human. And also some stolen underwear? What the hell is going on?”

Lupin plucked the bra from the dog’s head with a sigh, who gave him an annoyed bark and side eye.

“Yeah, that’s the whole problem.”


	5. New Dog on the Block

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're all in this together, but first they have to figure out if it really is all of them - is this dog truly Jigen, or just a mutt Lupin picked up in his grief?

“Okay, just, let me get this straight. That dog is actually Jigen, due to the Idol. Which, somehow, has the power to change anyone into a dog. And...  _ Jean _ now wields that power because he managed to escape with it AND you have no idea how to reverse this change and get our Jigen back?,” Fujiko finished in a rush.

From across the room, Lupin gave a shrug and nodded. “Pretty much, yeah.”

Jigen, in the few hours he'd been a dog so far, had discovered some interesting things about his new body. Like, for example, his ability to hear things much farther away than he anticipated. A more specific example being a group of people who had distanced themselves away from him for some privacy.

He paced around the hotel room, sniffing anything even mildly interesting, all while keeping an ear on the conversation happening in the kitchen. He’d obviously been staying in this place before his change - he could tell by his own smell permeating through everything.

The couch, some magazines on the table, hell, even the air itself smelled exactly like the brand of cigarettes he enjoyed. So at least he could be certain this was a safe place for him to be in. He could also smell Lupin, mostly in the bedroom and a small chair. 

So, one mystery down; and with a few significant ones left to solve. The main one being that, the moment he had poked his head out of the “escape bag”, he was met with the surprised faces of… two complete strangers. Lupin obviously knew them, had called them by name, even, but Jigen didn’t have that same luxury of recognition.

The woman, called Fujiko apparently, was gorgeous, but something about her made Jigen feel wary. And he didn’t really care for her brand of “gorgeous”, so that didn’t help her any in his eyes. The samurai (and who the hell became a samurai in this day and age?), Goemon, hadn’t taken his eyes off Jigen ever since he had exited the bag. This constant attention kept Jigen on edge, though he felt, deep down, that Goemon didn’t seem to pose any actual threat to him.

Jigen pricked his ears up and tuned back into the conversation. “Look, the hotel doesn’t allow dogs so we had to improvise. The manager barely looked twice at someone carrying up laundry, he didn’t even realize Jigen was in there- that isn’t the point! We gotta figure out how to help Jigen!” Lupin exclaimed, and even Jigen could tell the other two had some doubts.

Fujiko stepped forward, gracefully placing a hand on Lupin’s shoulder. “Lupin darling, calm down, won’t you? Don’t you think this is... a tad bit far-fetched? How do you even know for certain that dog over there is Jigen?”

Lupin’s expression fell from intense and determined to downcast in an instant, and Jigen couldn’t stand the feeling of helplessness coming from him in waves. ‘Well,’ he thought, looking around for the laundry bag once more, ‘If they need some proof…’ With the laundry bag held open by his splayed out paws, he dug around with his muzzle until he found what he was looking for.

It was Goemon who noticed first, motioning silently to the others to get their attention. They turned to focus on the mutt just as Jigen carefully placed his beloved hat on the kitchen table, releasing it from the gentle grip of his canines. He felt his tail begin to wag at how overjoyed Lupin looked.

Goemon knelt down slowly, taking Jigen’s head in his hands. He gazed heavily into Jigens eyes, looking for something, though Jigen had no idea what. “Jigen?” he murmured, staring intently.

Jigen huffed, sick of the question, especially when he had just given them pretty solid evidence. “Yeah, it’s me. Unbelievable, I know.”

Lupin laughed and clutched a hand against his chest. "Only Jigen could be this grumpy as such a cute mutt." To prove his point, Jigen shook off Goemon's hands with a little growl.

Lupin’s eyes widened and he snapped his fingers. "Oh, idea! Let's ask you some yes or no questions, alright buddy? Bark twice for yes, once for no, deal?" He knelt down and placed his hand as if to shake with Jigen on it.

Jigen gave him a withering look, whining out "You’ve gotta be kidding me-", until Lupin’s tisking cut him off.

"Uh uh, come on. One for no, twice for yes."

Jigen glanced at him, Lupin beaming his smug 'I am an absolute genius' grin, and then at the other two looking on in skeptical interest. He sighed. "Fine, fine." He shook Lupin’s hand, which was, honestly, mostly just Lupin shaking Jigen’s paw with his fingers wrapped around it.

Lupin threw on arm around him, whooping in triumph. He pointed at Fujiko and Goemon, "Right I'll let you guys go first. Ask him anything!"

Fujiko crossed her arms with a huff of disbelief. "Alrighty then… Jigen, is that really you?"

Jigen rolled his eyes, "Of course."

Lupin clapped, giddy, "There, see? Two barks!"

Goemon nodded while Fujiko’s eyebrows pushed together and her pout deepened. Goemon stood up and snatched one of Lupin’s preferred cigarettes off of the counter. He walked over to Jigen and offered up the cigarette for him to sniff. "Jigen, are these yours?"

Jigen gave them a brief whiff, and scoffed internally. Gitanes were alright, sure, but nothing like Jigen’s Pall Malls. "Nope."

Goemon nodded once more with a small smile and tossed the cigarette over to Lupin. Lupin glared at him. "Alright, first of all rude. Second of all…" he paused, clearly nervous about what he was going to say, "You… do know who I am, buddy, right?"

Jigen sighed, but looked into Lupin’s eyes. "Yes, fool." He could never forget Lupin, the mad lad that he was.

Fujiko rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Well of course he remembers you, Lupin, just like he remembers us. Right Jigen?"

Oh no, oh shit, he wasn't expecting them to ask him this. Does he keep his cards close? Tell them about his lapses in memories? Does he even trust them with this information? Obviously, Lupin trusts them enough, though that wasn’t saying much. Lupin allowed himself to trust the best gunslinger in the world, a samurai  _ apparently _ , a worryingly beautiful woman, and all of the other women from his past.

Lupin saved him from answering, thank god. Dusting off any dirt from his pants as he stood up, he shot a smile at the other two. “Why wouldn’t he remember you guys? Look, I’m glad we’ve been able to establish a fairly reliable means of communication, but we have more important things to handle right now.” He motioned toward Fujiko. “Fujiko, I need you to come with me to do some research. I need to know everything there is to know about that Idol, and if there’s anything more to its power that we don’t already know.”

Fujiko pouted, lip sticking out for maximum effect. “Why me? Can’t you get Goemon to go with you?”

Lupin approached her, his smile quickly going icy. “Fujicakes, light of my life, don’t think I haven’t forgotten whose fault this all is.” He pulled her close, bringing them face to face. “Now, betrayal I can forgive, I even expect it of you. It’s part of being a tantalizing woman and all. But if you think for one second I’m letting you off the hook for fixing Jigen? You have another thing coming.”

Fujiko gulped but nodded. Breaking away from Lupin’s hold, she took a few steps back and flicked her hair over her shoulder. “Fine, but three heads would still be better than two, right?”

Lupin shook his head, walking to place a hand on Goemon's shoulder. “Goemon has a more important job than us right now, actually.”

Goemon looked skeptically at Lupin, and Jigen had to agree. Where the hell was he going with this?

Lupin broke his serious facade and grinned. “He’s going to be our resident dogsitter!”

Jigen felt his head tilt in confusion and glanced at Goemon to see him staring in mirrored surprise. ‘This should be interesting’, Jigen thought, resigned.


	6. Hungry Like the Wolf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As our "heroes" try to figure out their situation, the ever-present Inspector Zenigata, alongside a new companion,is feeling the same pressures.

Zenigata slammed back his drink before dropping the empty glass onto the bar in front of him, equal parts frustrated and angry. He had been so damn close this time -  Lupin right there, almost in his grip. But, like the weasel he was, Lupin had escaped his grasp (for probably the… what, millionth time? Zenigata didn’t even want to think about it right now) and disappeared into the night.

Sometimes, if Zenigata was lucky, his ruthless tampering would make sure that Lupin couldn’t get away with his real goal. While Zenigata lived to catch Lupin and his crew, he could sleep soundly enough knowing that he’d disrupted the thief’s plans. But it was soul-crushing to have that man in his sights, to be in the same  _ room _ as him, only for him to escape  _ with _ the treasure and prance away to safety - the Idol disappearing off into the night with him, the only damned person with the ability and balls to do it so smoothly. Zenigata tried not to fume at the thought that Lupin was probably counting his riches right now, his gang lavishing him with praise and adoration.

He muttered a curse under his breath before waving the bartender down for another whiskey.

The second he had seen the newspapers proudly advertising the new display, he knew Lupin wouldn’t be able to stay away. His intuition was proven correct (as always when it came to Lupin) when the tech team rushed back to him with photos from the main Cairo airport; pictures of Lupin and his gang, all a few hours apart, but still undoubtedly them.

They hadn’t even bothered with disguises this time around, the cocky bastards strolling around in broad daylight in their ridiculous and incredibly memorable wardrobe. Zenigata had to take a deep breath when they had shown him the pictures, their blatant confidence pissing him off.

But it was confidence well earned, quite honestly - Zenigata had to admit that. After spending years of his life chasing Lupin fruitlessly around the globe, the bastard had proved he had more than a few reasons to be smug. But that just spurred Zenigata on even more.

No one, absolutely no one, was above the law, and Lupin was starting to seem like Icarus incarnate. Zenigata, heaven help him, didn’t want to see those flames wrap around Lupin and his gang of misfits.

Zenigata was focused on catching the whiskey the bartender slid to him across the counter, and barely noticed when a figure sat next to him at the bar. “Inspector?”

Zenigata started, desperately trying not to drop his full glass as he gave a yelp. After clearing his throat and uselessly trying to straighten both his face and tie, he glanced over to find Ito Kiyoshi; a new up-and-coming Inspector himself. 

He was young, far younger than Zenigata ever remembered feeling, and stoic. Slick black hair circled around his head, paired with sharp black eyes that communicated he was all business. When the Commissioner had called him into his office three weeks ago, Zenigata could honestly say he wasn’t expecting anything like being given a junior agent to mentor. Junior Inspector Ito was as straight laced as they come, and promising, and Zenigata had a constant, thrumming anxiety accompanying this new responsibility of guiding one of the newest generation.

In all of the time they’d spent together so far (not much, if  Zenigata had to be honest) he hadn’t seen any expression from Ito besides a blank look - and now the man himself was seated right next to him with one of those patented stares. He continued to stare as Zenigata tried to lean against the counter nonchalantly and maybe attempt to recover some dignity.

"Inspector, I thought you would be trying to find our suspect, not... drinking your failures away."

Zenigata turned red at the critique, scrambling desperately to explain himself to the young man and hoping that the dark lighting of the bar would hide his flush. "I am! I mean- uh… that is to say, that I am actually currently, right this moment, searching for Lupin,” Zenigata took a deep breath before steadying himself, “See, in all my years of tracking Lupin down, to find him, you have to think like him first".

Ito raised an eyebrow, glancing down to the fresh whiskey glass, moving his withering gaze back up to Zenigata.

Zenigata faltered, but continued. “Well… Inspectors can take breaks as well… sometimes... But! I have actually been going over some things, here, take a look at this.” He pulled out a file from underneath the complementary bowl of peanuts on the bar and dusted it off before sliding it in front of them both. Comically large letters spelled out the name “Arséne Lupin III” on the front, with a blood red [CONFIDENTIAL] stamp across it.

Ito carefully reached over and flipped the cover open, and Zenigata had to hold back a small, proud smile at the look of awe that flashed across his face. Everything was there: newspaper clippings, eyewitness statements, fingerprints, mugshots, a list of all known acquaintances, aliases, and anything and everything that even hinted at Lupin’s whereabouts. Flipping through a few pages, Ito finally landed on the paper containing flight plans out of Cairo.

“I’ve been chasing Lupin around long enough to know his M.O. when it comes to escaping countries. Roadblocks will keep him from escaping in a car, and I’ve demanded an upgrade of the police presence on the Nile. His only means of escape left is through the local airports.” Zenigata spread the paper out, showing off the hundreds of names and their flights. This time he couldn’t hold back his grin as his chest puffed up slightly.

He pointed to a seemingly random flight. “We’re running a little low on manpower, what with most of our men on boats and all that,” he chuckled awkwardly, “But I figure we gather some of the local police force and just start interrogating everyone on this list! One of these people  _ has _ to be Lupin”.

Ito glanced skeptically at the list of hundreds, running his eyes down the list, and then redirected his gaze back to Zenigata. He cleared his throat. “Inspector, pardon me for saying, but don’t you think this is a tad bit far fetched?” He picked up the file for himself and began to flip through it, searching, until he finally pulled a witness statement out.

“I had noticed this before, but I wanted your opinion first sir.” He handed the paper over to Zenigata, who took it with narrowed eyes. It contained witness statements from some of the museum guards, and while most of them were short - due to the fact they were, unfortunately, very much unconscious for most of it - one stood out from the rest. 

There had been a guard that night who had managed to sneak off from the rest of the guards in the main room; a slacker if Zenigata had ever seen one. He had apparently hidden himself away for a “desperately needed” nap after a “long day” of sitting at a guard post. His nap was interrupted by the sounds of Zenigata and the force bursting in, and had peeked out from his spot to see Lupin standing in the center of the room, gathering something up, and then running away before the force could even get close to reaching him.

Zenigata knew all of this already, not just because he had interviewed this man himself, but because of his almost-capture of Lupin at approximately the same time the guard had awoken. He leveled Ito with a confused look and motioned with his hand for him to continue.

Ito took the paper back, and looked over a seemingly specific section again before making eye contact with Zenigata. “Inspector, you had this guard describe Lupin in detail, correct?”

Zenigata nodded. “Well of course! We had to be sure it really was Lupin, and not some imposter,” he leaned in close and lowered his voice to a stage whisper, “We’ve had those before, you know?”

Ito rolled his eyes and continued. “Yes, well, he does indeed describe Lupin perfectly. His wardrobe, his features, and everything else around him - but I happened to notice one thing that seemed off.” He tapped the paper where he was looking earlier. “The Idol that was stolen wasn’t huge, but it was still decently sized. But this guard didn’t see Lupin holding it. So where was it?”

Zenigata took the paper back to check for himself. “Well, maybe he had a bag or something. He could have even given it to one of his gang for safe keeping. That wouldn’t be a first for them.”

Ito shook his head, eyes sparkling.“That’s what I thought at first too sir, but why would the guard be so meticulous in his description and leave out something as possibly-important as a bag? He even gave us Lupin’s shoe brand for God’s sake.” Ito leaned in close with the first smile Zenigata had ever seen on him. “Unless, of course, he didn’t have one.”

Zenigata glanced up sharply, Ito’s message finally getting through. “He still could have given it to one of the others though. You saw the tapes, they were all accounted for.”

Ito pulled out his phone, clearly prepared, and brought up the tapes with a few quick taps. “Yes, of course, but if you remember, our last transmission from the security cameras showed Mine outside and on the complete other side of the building, and showed Goemon headed toward the guard room to most likely take out the cameras. This would have also been much too far for him to make it to Lupin’s side before we arrived.”

Zenigata slouched over the bar, arms on the counter, mind racing. “That still leaves Jigen though. We know he was there, we saw him with Lupin before the cameras cut out.”

Ito conceded to that. “Actually, yes, Jigen Daisuke could very well have gotten out before we saw him. I could even believe that they were the only ones there in that room...” Ito paused and reached over to pull another paper from the file. “If it weren’t for these.”

He slid it over to Zenigata and silently pointed to the log of evidence recovered from the scene. They had collected the usual stuff: fingerprints, shoe prints, the occasional hair follicle. But what Ito’s finger was focused on was the full set of clothing that had baffled the crime techs. The clothing didn’t belong to any of the guards, and none of the Lupin gang were seen dressed in anything similar on the tapes.

So the clothes couldn’t have gotten there unless… "There was someone else there.” 

Ito snapped his fingers and grinned, shocking Zenigata with the display of emotion. "Spot on, Inspector!" He leaned forward, grabbing some peanuts from the bowl. "But what I haven't figured out yet is what that means… I don't think Lupin has any other partners besides his usual gang, right?"

Zenigata sat in silence for a moment as Lupin's parting words came back to him. At the time, he had been too busy avoiding planting his face onto the floor to take it in, but now, knowing what he knew…

_ Can't stick around this time, something kind of important's come up! _

He took the paper containing the flights out of Cairo and crumpled them up, tossing them into a nearby bin. Ito looked on with curiosity, still munching his peanuts . Zenigata then pounded back the last finger of his whisky, and slammed the glass down onto the bar with renewed vigor (and to the surprise of the bartender).

"Inspector Ito, call the hotel. Lupin isn't leaving this country anytime soon and neither are we."


	7. Doggy Daycare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the team now split up, Goemon has to tackle the most intimidating challenge of all: social interaction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey folks! Thank you so much for the great reception so far, we both appreciate it to the end of the world and back. I've just gotten back from a trip that took a few days and I'm pretty exhausted, so this chapter is going to be a little shorter than usual and DD is going to be replying to the comments we've received in the past week. We still hope you enjoy this chapter, and we'll see you next week with another!
> 
> \- MM

Goemon, frankly, was at a loss. Just a few hours ago, his only concern was if their gunman and long-time friend was going to leave their ragtag group or not. Then, it was that French asshole who had a ridiculous number of armed goons chase them. But now, as he stood stiffly next to Lupin’s Fiat, all of those concerns were eclipsed by the strange scene unfolding before him.

Lupin was on his knees, cooing loudly as he ruffled Jigen’s ears. "I'm only gonna be gone for a few hours, alright bud? Goemon is gonna take great care of you in the meantime, promise." He glanced at Goemon scrutinizingly, the threat of certain death if he screwed up with Jigen obvious in his eyes, and then turned back to Jigen and lowered his voice to a stage whisper. "And I need you to take care of him some too, you know how helpless he can be with people."

Jigen, tail a blur as Lupin scratched his ears, let out a huffing, gravelly sound; it was only when Lupin chuckled along with him that Goemon figured it was Jigen’s way of laughing. 

The sudden sound of the Fiat’s trunk slamming caught their attention and Fujiko peeked around the car to glare at the men, both human and not, impatiently. “Lupin,  _ sweetie _ , if you're quite done playing with the puppy?”

Lupin gave one last, remorseful pat to Jigen’s head and stood, brushing down his pants. He turned to Goemon with a grin, Jigen whining from the sudden loss of attention at his feet. “I know this is a lot, and you’re not at all qualified to be a dogsitter, but it’s not like any dog! It’s Jigen!” He looked down at said gunslinger and the man-dog in question gave him a bark, probably of gleeful affirmation - Goemon wasn’t exactly the best at reading any type of creature, though, including humans. “Now, we can’t afford for the cleaning crew to find him or they might kick us out and we’d have to hustle for a new place. Or, god forbid, they’d take him to a shelter. That’s where you come in!”

Goemon had a pretty strong feeling he wasn’t going to be comfortable with whatever came next.

Lupin reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a map, pointing to a few local places that had crudely scribbled notes around them. “Over here are some pet-friendly stores,” he pointed to the middle where the largest conglomeration of marks presided, and then moved his finger over to the largest open area on the map, “And this is a dog-friendly park that you guys should be able to distract yourselves with until we’re done.” He folded the map up and held it out to Goemon.

He took it with apprehension, and more than a bit of anxiety. “Lupin, as much as your plans tend to work out, is there really a reason we can’t all just go together? It seems inadvisable to split up, especially when our enemies have such power on their side.”

Fujiko leaned closer to the trio and piped in, her painfully chipper tone obviously faked. “No puppies allowed in the library. We wouldn’t want them to play fetch with the books.” She glanced at Jigen who looked as disgruntled as a dog could. She gave a shrug and smirked, “Sorry, Jigen.”

Jigen huffed loudly, an unhappy sound if Goemon had ever heard one, and his tail thumped once on the ground before coming to a complete stop. Goemon marveled at the amount of mannerisms that came through that were just so… Jigen.

But there was still something… off about him. Goemon just couldn’t quite put his finger on it yet. The way he tensed around them sometimes, or how he’d stare at them like he was analyzing them from head to toe. It left an uneasy feeling in his heart that just wouldn't go away, but he couldn’t worry about that now.

Lupin launched himself into the driver’s seat of the Fiat and the car zoomed back, coming to a stop inches away from where Goemon stood. He shot a grin at the slightly startled samurai before rolling down his window and tossing a burner to Goemon, who caught it without thinking. Lupin leaned towards him, smile softening, “If you need us just call alright? Stay out of trouble!” With a quick salute to Jigen, Lupin and Fujiko were gone, zooming off into the crowded streets of Cairo - narrowly clipping a few other cars and a trashcan in the process, but the local police department wouldn’t be able to prove anything.

Goemon secured the burner phone in a hidden fold of his kimono, then proceeded to unfold the map to inspect it more closely. None of the shops on it really appealed to him, and lunch wasn’t for another few hours. He glanced at Jigen, who hadn’t moved from his side since the others had left except to lay down with a soft huff on the ground. “Jigen?”

Jigen’s ears perked up and he immediately tilted his face to look at Goemon. He was kind of ridiculously adorable, in a mangy way. Goemon had to turn his face away to hide a small smile. “Ah, well I just wanted to see how you felt about visiting the park Lupin recommended.”

Jigen cocked his head to the side in a scarily good mimicry of his normal thinking pose. Goemon was about to get anxious after a few dead-silent moments before, tentatively, Jigen’s tail slowly started to wag again. He locked eyes with Goemon and huffed out two decisive barks.

Goemon nodded solemnly, "Follow me then. I believe it will be much easier to have me lead the way - I’m not sure how well you could hold the map." He smirked to himself as he walked, proud at his little joke. A sound on his left, Jigen’s unique way of chuckling as a dog, made his smile grow a little wider.

They walked in companionable silence, not all that different than before Jigen’s transformation honestly. One of the best things about Jigen was that he always knew what the others needed and when they needed it. So when it was just Goemon and Jigen together, he would honor the silence that Goemon so desperately needed sometimes.

There was something about this particular silence though that felt off, even with the explanation that, of course it’s weird, Jigen’s a dog. It felt like, although he knew how to act around Goemon, he was simply acting on instinct, not active thought. He could be wrong - he was, again, never known for reading emotions well - but it left Goemon feeling a little wary.

Jigen let out a gruff bark, sounding weirdly confrontational, surprising Goemon and jolting him out of his worried thoughts. When he glanced down, he found Jigen looking at him with narrowed eyes from behind the curtain of his bangs. He let out another bark, a long high pitched noise this time that cut off with a huff.

The two of them slowed to a stop and Goemon instinctively crouched down to get closer to Jigen’s level. “Jigen? What troubles you, my friend?”

Jigen backed up a little, looked at him a moment, and then glared off to the side before he let out an annoyed sounding whine.

Goemon’s face fell slightly at his friend’s obvious distress. “I’m sorry Jigen, but I do not understand.” 

Jigen turned back to him and growled slightly, stomping a foot on the ground. Goemon sighed, becoming distressed himself, and reached out a hand towards Jigen to try and placate him. They might have come up with a simple way to communicate, but sometimes yes or no questions couldn’t really communicate everything. It must be incredibly frustrating for Jigen, and Goemon felt sympathetic.

“Jigen, I know that this is a very frustrating situation, but I promise you that Lupin and I will do our very best to help you. And, quite honestly, I am also sure that Fujiko will as well.” He leaned forward, trying to go for a conspiratorial tone. “I have it on good authority that she is a dog person. I believe she finds you just as precious in your current state as we all do.”

Maybe it’s a little embarrassing sometimes to share his emotions (especially to Jigen, of all people - or dogs, now?), and he’s not even sure he’s doing it right anytime he does, but the tension visibly leaving Jigen’s body reassured him. Goemon offered a small smile in return and felt, solidly, for the first time since reuniting, that things were going to be alright.

Neither of them noticed, too caught up in their moment, but suddenly a woman appeared around the corner. After spotting them she quickly sliced through pedestrians and power-walked her way over.

“Excuse me, Sir!”

Both Goemon and Jigen jumped, caught off guard, and as they turned to look at the yelling they both found themselves facing a strange woman. Her body language said ‘confused and suspicious’, her uniform said ‘Cairo Police officer’, and these two things equaled trouble for the pair in front of her. 

She put a hand on her hip, towering above them in height, and glowered down at them. Her features were striking and the Hijab she wore only brought them out more. She pointed harshly at Jigen, “Sir, is this your dog?”

Goemon quickly stood up as he and Jigen glanced at each other, both of them equal parts nervous and incredibly surprised. “Um, we are… we’re on vacation from Japan. Is there a problem here?” He desperately prayed that she wasn’t a part of Zenigata’s team; anyone close to him would know immediately that a random samurai, in a place with no samurai, was with Lupin.

At his words, to his relief, she brightened considerably. Her posture relaxed and she stood much more casually, which he wasn’t sure how she did that with all 6 foot 2 inches of her. “Oh, tourists! How wonderful! I love meeting new people, you know?” She smiled and tentatively held out a hand towards Jigen. “Is it alright if I pet him?”

Another exchange of glances, but simply questioning this time. Goemon wasn't about to subject Jigen to anything he wasn't comfortable with, but with an excited nod from Jigen, he smiled kindly and gestured to the woman for permission. She lit up with glee as she crouched down and ran her hand through his fur. Best not to raise any more suspicion then there already was, plus Jigen seemed to be a fan of pets anyways. He had more than earned some relaxation.

"Oh, aren't you just the sweetest baby boy! So handsome and soft!" She cooed as she ruffled Jigen’s head, giving a scratch that he must have absolutely loved if his tail that was thumping hard enough to raise dust was any indication. She glanced at Goemon with a smirk, “So, you never really answered me - is he your dog? I mean, I’m kind of guessing, but I’ve got to check.”

Goemon panicked, “No- I mean, yes. I am watching him for my friend today.” He bowed for nothing better to do. “I am Ishikawa. Ishikawa, uh… Koichi.” He actively ignored Jigen’s laugher-huff.

The woman stood after one last reluctant pat to Jigen’s head, clearly not wanting to go too far from him. She gave Goemon a bow in return, “My name is Nane Bahar. Sorry if I scared you earlier, but I couldn’t help but notice your dog doesn't have a collar or leash. Those are required, you know? I came to ask you if you knew.” A look of thoughtful suspicion crossed her features. “Though it’s actually literally impossible to travel with pets without their identifications and such. It’s illegal.”

Goemon managed not to panic again and thought fast. “Ah yes, well unfortunately his usual collar was lost earlier today at the park. We were actually on our way to find a shop where we could buy a new one. Jigen here is very well trained so I hardly thought anything of walking him without one. I apologize immensely.”

Her features softened as she bought his lie, hook line and sinker. She leaned down to ruffle Jigen’s pointy ears again. “Aw, is that what happened? You poor puppy!” While Jigen was busy being blissed out on pets, Nane looked at Goemon. “If you’d like, I can walk with you. I know a great place right around the corner from here actually. I go there all the time for my cat!” 

Goemon, trapped by social niceties and minor guilt for tricking someone who seemed genuinely kind to him, could only swallow and nod as the woman beamed. He would have to put off figuring out what was bothering Jigen earlier, when there wasn’t any present danger - or an excited officer of the law leading them to a pet shop, of all places.

Soon they were all on their way. Nane looked Goemon up and down as they were walking, Goemon spotting her out of the corner of his eye, seeming to be appraising something. She must have come to some sort of a conclusion when her smile widened.

“By the way, are you a cosplayer? Your costume is amazing!”


	8. The Dog Ate My Homework!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Goemon and Jigen are busy dealing with a fashion crisis, more information rises about the mysterious Idol and an even more mysterious Goddess.

Fujiko couldn’t help but involuntarily stiffen and snapped her eyes up from her book as the back two legs of Lupin’s chair slammed to the ground.  The towering stack of books next to him teetered threateningly, and Fujiko mentally braced herself for the even louder impact of at least ten books on a hard, wooden flooring, but after a few seconds, it steadied. As she sighed, Lupin leaned forward, staring at her pleadingly. “I should call them.”

Fujiko rolled her eyes and placed her book, ‘ _ Here Comes the Sun - A Ra Introspective’ _ , back on the table and reached out to rub Lupin’s arm to try and soothe him. “Lupin, you’ve been saying that for the past hour. Don’t you trust Goemon?” She opened the book back up to continue reading.

Lupin looked chagrined. “Of course I do! Of course I trust him. It’s just…” He slumped down in his chair. “I have a bad feeling is all.”

Fujiko sighed and placed a bookmark in the book, then closed it and placed it aside. She leaned closer to Lupin and took his hand in hers, forcing him to look at her in the eyes. “Lupin, darling. When was the last time you slept?” This was a reasonable question, and they both knew it - Fujiko had been close enough to Lupin for long enough to know his vices. It wasn't rare for Lupin to go days without sleep while preparing for a heist, and they hadn't had a single break since trying to help Jigen.

Lupin went quiet with a frown and looked down at his fingers, ticking something off on them - his frown deepening with every finger, which was pretty telling.

Fujiko rubbed her temples lightly and sighed. Most of the time, it was Jigen who got onto Lupin about his health and sleep schedule - just like he did for everyone else. It was Jigen who thought ahead to meals, laundry, and nearly every other thing that the others might have missed while their focus wasn’t on their health. Goemon often missed meals when he was too into his head with training, and Fujiko herself was prone to missing a few hours (or even days) of sleep here and there.

Fujiko couldn’t help but mirror Lupin’s frown as she thought of Jigen right now, so unlike himself. She almost missed him, which was crazy, because she knew that he was fine. Well, mostly fine. Just… a bit different. But they were at this tiny old library to find a fix for him anyways.

She brought Lupin’s hand up to her mouth and gave it a small kiss, then smiled at him sweetly, “We have plenty of books to look through, so why don’t you take a small nap, hm? We have lots of time until we need to meet the others. And I’ll keep looking for anything on our little idol or our favorite puppy.”

Lupin gave a tired, but loving, smile to her. All of those sleepless hours and all of that worrying about Jigen must have finally caught up to him. “Thanks, Fujicakes. I just need a few minutes, really.” His long yawn seemed to indicate otherwise, but Fujiko wasn’t going to say anything. “I’m gonna set up a timer. If I sleep through it, wake me up?” At her gentle nod, he placed his head on the table, cushioned by his arms, and was dead to the world in moments.

Fujiko allowed herself to smile at him, unseen by anyone or anything, and reached over to his phone. His password was easy to guess - 121067, the four letters that corresponded to the numbers making her loving smile grow even softer - and she quietly shut off his alarm. ‘He needs the rest,’ she thought to herself as she opened another book, “ _ Who Let The Dogs Out - Into Hell: Anubis’ Purpose, Form, and Family _ ”, with “ _ The Goal of Cat Lovers Everywhere: The Origins of Bastet _ ” next - followed by the remaining contents of a frankly intimidating tower of books. She sighed and sat back for the long read ahead of her.

 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Jigen struggled violently against the strong arms trapping him, thrashing about as much as his scrawny body would allow against the strength battling his. Just to make sure his captor really knew he meant business, he was snarling and growling as loudly and viciously as possible.

“Jigen, please, my friend, if you would just-”

How could this man - this monster - call him a friend?

A flash of frilly orange close to his face made him redouble his efforts. And when an arm found itself too close to his face, Jigen instantly took the opportunity and lunged to bite it. Not a serious thing, but a strong warning clamp that stopped the arm in its tracks and warned that if it didn’t, there would be hell to pay. And definitely a bit of blood shed.

"Jigen. Please let go.”

The sounds of the struggle taking place masked the gentle sounds of a key in the lock, and just as Jigen was lifted up and off the sofa, Lupin burst into the room.

"Now we just gotta call Goemon and-" as soon as Lupin looked into the room he froze, with Fujiko doing the same right behind him - both staring at the pair, and the trashed room, in front of them.

Jigen would probably have reacted the same way if he were in their positions - and still human, of course. Goemon went stock still, eyes almost comically wide in surprise and darting between Lupin and Fujiko as feathers from the couch’s cushions drifted between them to cover every available surface. He was holding a harness and a leash like weapons in his hands, and Jigen seemed to be seeing them that way too with all of the wary glances he was giving them. Which couldn’t exactly be easy, given Jigen was frozen, contorted at an odd angle, with his mouth clamped onto Goemon’s arm and dangling wildly in the air. He was disheveled and obviously trying his absolute best to keep Goemon’s hands away from him.

Lupin’s mouth dropped open ever so slightly, the large black bag that was being dragged behind him forgotten. Beside him, Fujiko was shaking as she tried desperately to stifle her laughter from taking in the scene.

They all stared at each other for a few more moments before Goemon gently placed Jigen back down on the couch, blushing a bit from the embarrassment. Jigen shook himself off, obviously embarrassed too about the situation, and stalked his way over to hide under the nearest table.

From his position, Jigen still saw Lupin raise a skeptical eyebrow. He seemed to remember the bag behind him as he took a few steps into the room and placed it down slowly beside the entrance before fixing Goemon with a thoroughly confused look. "Decided to start the party without us?"

Goemon’s face was redder than any of them had ever seen before - including the times when people flirted with him . “I-I can explain.”

It was at this point that Fujiko finally decided that she couldn’t hold herself back anymore. Her laughter filled the room in moments and she stumbled her way over to the couch, flopping down in hysterics. 

Lupin walked over to sit next to her, grinning at Goemon devilishly. "Well, I could make a few guesses, but I’d much rather hear it."

Goemon explained, only stuttering a little as his flush cleared, about their plans to head to the park, but how they ran into a kind but forceful officer on their way and everything that encounter entailed. "Unfortunately, while she was gifted with extreme, almost concerning kindness, the same could not be said for her taste in fashion." He held up the harness from earlier with a small wince, a hideous orange-and-frills monstrosity.

Nane had been very nice - a rare thing when it came to law enforcement oftentimes, and she was incredibly well-meaning. But her choice of harness was for a simple, mindless dog, not a sentient man-dog who had a flair for fashion. It was bad enough for Jigen that he couldn’t wear his hat right now, since it wouldn’t fit over his oversized ears anymore, so it was practically a straight-up insult to him when he saw the harness being picked out.

Goemon had clearly gone along with her in the moment just to get it over with, the unexpected socialization making him anxious. "Jigen let us put it on him after a few protests, and kept it on for the remainder of the day. We parted ways with the officer after we left the store and continued with our plans. The park was quite pleasant, we had lunch at an excellent Japanese restaurant, and we walked around the city to get a feel for it. Once we arrived back here, however…"

The moment Jigen had set foot back in the hotel room, he had slipped from the ugly harness in an impressive feat of contortionism and vowed he'd never wear it again. When Goemon wanted to go out to find the others, he hadn't considered just how much of a fight Jigen would put up. _‘The fool’_ , Jigen thought as he gave the harness a withering glance.

Fujiko gave one last chuckle and snatched the harness from Goemon, holding it between two fingers like it was dirty laundry. “Goemon, dear, do you honestly think Jigen would enjoy this… thing? Mr. Wears-Designer-Suits-All-the-Time?  _ That  _ Jigen?”

Goemon gave a pitiful glance down, “No, however Officer Bahar offered to pay. It felt rude to turn her generosity down, and she seemed to enjoy the color of the harness. Though she kept saying the brown of it matched Jigen’s coat, so I am not entirely sure if she was aware...” 

Lupin looked at Jigen, clearly amused by the entire situation, but then adopted a curious expression. “How’d you guys get in before us anyway? The manager of the place was definitely downstairs when we went by, and he made it pretty damn clear to me that he did  _ not _ want dogs in his building.”

Goemon and Jigen shared a glance. Then, deadpan, Goemon shrugged. “Roof.”

Lupin looked at him in disbelief as Fujiko leveled Goemon with a look. “The roof?”

Goemon nodded, and apparently thought that was a sufficient enough explanation to warrant staying silent.

Jigen huffed from under the table and stood up with a stretch, more curious about the bag Lupin had left by the door than the recap of their day. He padded over to investigate. Large folded papers stuck out of the top, while the outline of thick books could be seen through the tense fabric stretched over an excess of contents. He sniffed at it, an automatic instinct from the beginning, and categorized the scents. There was an old smell, the smell of papers and what Jigen assumed was the library, and, of course, there were the smells of Lupin and Fujiko. He was beginning to get the urge to lick at a mystery stain on the bag when Lupin approached.

“Oh, thanks for reminding me buddy!” He gave Jigen’s head a pat, then dragged the bag over and onto the couch. In moments, the coffee table was covered in papers and books that Lupin and Fujiko had lain out haphazardly. Lupin flipped open a book near the center, coming upon a page that featured a very familiar Idol. He pointed at it with a proud grin. “Behold; the Idol of Wafa!”

They all settled around the coffee table and leaned forward, Goemon and Jigen already curious.

Lupin continued, “Fujiko, lovely as ever, managed to find an Egyptian mythology book all about this Idol. See, it was made specifically to honor the goddess Wafa, who was the illegitimate daughter of Anubis and Anput. She was rumored to be the goddess of loyalty, mostly, but also of mischief and, on some occasions, homosexuality.” He winked at Goemon, who gave him an eye roll in return.

Fujiko took over with an exasperated sigh and a smirk. “The Idol was said to be imbued with magical qualities by Wafa herself, and was sealed away from the prying hands of those who would use it for evil.” She glanced at Jigen with a soft frown, who sat watching her with rapt attention. “Guess they weren’t just simple rumors, huh?”

Lupin took over once more, giving Jigen a comforting pat on the head. “The reason it was removed was because of that asshole Pierre’s great-great-grandfather, who stole it in the name of ‘archeology’. More like imperialism, but whatever. But that’s why Jean knew so much about it.” A furious look came over Lupin’s features, and Jigen felt his hand tighten on his head. “Unfortunately for Jean’s current status of ‘living’, he’s messed with my people. I’m not about to let that go unpunished.”

Goemon nodded, and Fujiko visibly steeled herself. It made Jigen feel… warm inside, to know that these people, even if he didn't know a lot about them, regarded him as someone (or something?) to protect.

They were his pack. His tail wagged at that thought.

Lupin grabbed a large folded paper from the table and unfurled it over some of the books, revealing the schematics - and directions - to a large mansion. He smiled at the group around him, a dark promise in it, “You know, a great thing about libraries is that they tend to have access to local information. Stuff like newspapers that tell you where important people live and, sometimes, if you get lucky, their addresses.” He shot a pointed look at Goemon, “And that’s where you and I come in. We’re gonna stake out that French asshole’s home tomorrow first thing in the morning. And, hopefully, we’ll figure out where he keeps the Idol so we can steal it back. Or at least spot any weaknesses in his security so we can break in later and search.”

Goemon looked concerned for a moment. “If I am with you, then who will watch Jigen?”

Fujiko piped up, leaning back in a reclined position. “I suppose it is my turn to watch him. Perhaps we can hit the town together, see the sites.” She pouted at Lupin and gave him her best puppy eyes, “I’ve barely had any time to shop, you know. How’s a girl supposed to feel appreciated if she can’t shop a little once and awhile? 

Lupin took her hand, kissing along her arm as far as she’d let him before she shot him a dangerous look. “Ah, Fuji-baby, I’d hate to make you feel underappreciated! You know that. Here,” he reached into his wallet, pulling out a credit card that seemed to ooze luxury through its gold and matte black surface.

As she went to grab it, Lupin pulled it back as he snuck a kiss to her forehead. “One condition, though. Jigen has to be the priority. Can you promise me that?”

Fujiko rolled her eyes but nodded, taking the card with care. “Oh, alright. I have just the day in mind anyway. I promise we’ll both come back in one piece. But your bank account might not.” She winked at Lupin with a smirk and he laughed.

Jigen felt his ears twitch in mild apprehension. With how disastrous his day with Goemon had ended up, he was understandably worried about how things would go. No matter what, it seemed that the next day would be quite the adventure - Jigen just hoped it would be a good one.


	9. When the Catwalk Becomes the Dogwalk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for Fujiko and Jigen's big day! Will it be as much of a disaster as it was with Goemon, or will Jigen's dreams of puppy fashion actually come true?

Fujiko couldn't  _ really _ fault Goemon for the day before. He was a simple man with simple tastes, his closet just simple variations on the same classic style. He would never understand the need to dress to impress; he had found something that worked for him, and he was going to stick with it for the rest of eternity. Not that there’s anything really wrong about that - he still looked beautiful.

Jigen, however, prioritized fashion and knew just about as much as Fujiko. And that was saying something. So of course he wouldn’t wear that monstrosity of a harness, no matter how much Goemon begged or dragged him around. So as usual, the boys would just have to leave it to her to fix their mistakes.

Goemon and Lupin had left early, trudging into the mist of the first few moments of dawn, weighed down by a rather comical amount of weapons and surveillance gear. She had waved them off, hiding her smirk at their struggles behind her coffee cup, as Jigen had lounged on the couch, drifting in and out of consciousness. It seemed that, even as a dog, he still wasn't much for mornings. Not that she was either quite honestly, which was why she needed her coffee cup to be approximately the size of her head.

Getting up early wasn’t in vain though; something she had unfortunately been forced to learn in her lifetime. If she wanted to be the best femme fatale the world had to offer, she had to not only act the part, but also look it. Fujiko, despite being aware of how narcissistic it may have seemed, knew she was beautiful, gorgeous even. But while most of it was natural, there was a good portion of it where she had to give credit to makeup, cute clothing, and hair products. All of which, sadly, took significant time out of her day. Fortunately, she could almost always finish by sunrise, which resulted in some lovely pictures if she so wished.

But doing herself up each morning wasn’t even close to as hard as she was guessing this would be.

She glanced down at Jigen resting on the couch and sighed, his eyes slowly flickering open to glare up at her from behind his fringe. She put her hands on her hips and pursed her lips at him - well then, two could play at that game. "Look, Jigen, you need a collar or else we'll attract unnecessary attention - not the type either of us want. Work with me here."

An annoyed huff made his fringe float for a few seconds as he turned his head away from her, stubborn as always. 

Fujiko rolled her eyes and moved a hand to rub at her temples, the frustration of dealing with a stubborn man at this ungodly hour getting to her already. “Jigen. I'm not going to make you wear that hideous thing, alright? Even  _ I _ hate it on you! I'm not that cruel."

He turned back to her, eyes squinting - equal parts curious and apprehensive.

She let out a tense breath and pulled out a new ‘collar’ for him from her bag, letting him get a good look. "Until we can get you something better suited to…  _ all _ of our tastes, how about we use this instead, hm? It’s even handmade." What used to be one of Fujiko’s spare headwraps - almost reminiscent of a bandana, really - was now an elegant fabric-bandana-collar, wrapped in a way that the plain black leash they had could attach easily without causing stress to Jigen as they walked.

For the first time around her since the whole ordeal began, Jigen sat up, leaning closer to the collar in her hand and sniffing, looking almost interested. After a few moments he settled back and nodded to her, and Fujiko smiled brightly at her unexpectedly easy success. She gently wrapped the bandana around his neck, and if she noticed his tail wagging a bit, well, she wouldn’t mention it.

She stepped back as she took in her handiwork, pleased with how handsome he looked and even more thrilled with how well it had gone down. Jigen, as a general rule, was pretty grumpy - especially when it came to Fujiko. And sure, the same could be said for him now, but for some reason he seemed less distrustful of her in particular, and just more distrustful in general. Luckily, no matter why this changed about him, it worked out in her favor for now.

She was snapped out of her thoughts as Jigen gave her an adorably silly grin-and-bark combo as he proudly showed off how his new accessory looked. Fujiko couldn’t help but smile a little at him. She would never tell him to his face, but as a dog he was the cutest thing she had ever seen. Fujiko didn’t have weaknesses, but if she did - which she didn’t! - it would probably be a love of dogs. Small, large, fluffy, bald, it didn’t matter. They were all precious in her eyes, and by god did she want to pamper one.

But it was a sad fact of life that, in their line of work, pets weren’t something you could reliably take care of or even keep an eye on regularly. And so, much to Fujiko’s massive disappointment (which she would never share with anyone), there would be no dogs in her future.

But there was one right now.

Of course, the dog was Jigen, who, as a human, even on a good day wouldn’t think twice about leaving her to rot in jail. But he was a dog for now, and she had an opportunity, which meant that she could get away with something she’d wanted to do for a very long while.

She sent her most dazzling grin at Jigen as she held out the leash, “How about you and I get out of here, hotshot? I know the perfect place.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Over half the day was gone, and Fujiko could proudly say that she’d never had a more productive shopping trip in her life. 7 luxury shops all across Cairo, none of them with anything worth less than $200.

She sipped gently at her cappuccino, gaze falling yet again to the immense number of sleek shopping bags that surrounded their table. Some contained precious jewelry, others contained delicate candies, and most contained clothing that she knew could make anyone around her drool. But her favorite bags sat underneath Jigen’s chair - the mutt sitting across from her, lapping with as much control as he could muster at a fancy glass of water.

Their first stop had been a dog boutique; the fanciest one the city had to offer. And yes, maybe Fujiko had gone just a teensy bit overboard while looking around and cooing at everything the shop had available. But to be fair, Jigen had too, getting just as into it as Fujiko. After they picked everything out, a genuinely impressive fashion show followed, focused solely on Jigen strutting his puppy-stuff around the store, Fujiko giving him recommendations and the two finalizing their choices by the end of it.

Their best find wasn’t the cute little dog turtleneck, nor was it the matte black leather collar that had white diamonds set into it that they had both loved - instead, the item that brought a new light to Jigen’s eyes was a tiny little hand-made dog hat that closely resembled his human fedora. The instant they both saw it, they knew they had to have it.

He was wearing it now, fitted snugly between his pointy ears and making him so humanly familiar that it had stolen her breath a few times.

(There was also a cowboy costume that he didn’t know about, but she would leave it up to Lupin to get him to wear it. The instant she had seen the fake guns and goofy sheriff's hat on it she knew it and was too good to not get. She’d get pictures of him in it soon enough, mark her words.)

She felt eyes on them again, for about the millionth time since they had entered the cafe. From the corner of her eye she noticed the disgruntled looks from a few of the other patrons of the cafe and simply smirked into her drink. From past experience, she was almost certain that, deep down, they were jealous; either of her, Jigen, or their obvious riches. Ignoring people like that had become practically a hobby over the years for Fujiko.

The waiter had come and gone quickly, leaving behind her choice of a house salad and a large cut of rare A5 beef for Jigen. He hadn’t seemed particularly excited to be waiting on a dog at first, but after seeing his eyes widen as she flashed the card Lupin had given her, she knew he wouldn’t start anything. She had money and wasn’t at all afraid to flaunt it - especially to get good, quiet service.

With a lovely day behind them and a delicious lunch about to be in her belly, Fujiko could happily say that the trip was a resounding success. “Jigen darling, let me cut that for you. Just because you’re a dog doesn't mean you have to eat like one.”

He let her, manners still as present as they possibly could be while a dog, and watched her happily as she cut the juicy steak into bite-sized pieces. He huffed gratefully when she passed it back to him, digging in rapidly.

“You’re welcome. You know, Jigen, I’ve actually had quite a lovely day. I never would have thought, but I really am glad we did this.”

Jigen glanced at her, pausing in his apparent mission to put the dishwasher out of business, and let out a soft bark that seemed to be agreement.

She took a bite of her salad, humming to herself in thought before swallowing and clearing her throat. “Honestly, I thought you were going to throw a huge hissy fit because you had to spend the day with me. You’ve really surprised me today! I’m starting to think you might have gotten more mature as a dog.”

Jigen didn’t answer, though that wasn’t much of a surprise. He was a dog, after all.

Well, there was still plenty of day left, and they didn’t have to be back to the hotel until much later that night. “Jigen, are you up for a bit more shopping?”

Jigen, food finished, plate sparkly clean, and utterly fashionable, gave her an enthusiastic doggy grin and barked twice.

Fujiko gave a matching, much more human grin and placed Lupin’s credit card on their check, “That’s what I thought. Here’s to a new, beautiful friendship then.”

She toasted him, clinking her cappuccino on his water glass. Maybe they could keep the friendship up for a while, at least, until he was back to normal. She smiled at the thought. Yeah, she’d like that.   



	10. Sniffing Out the Enemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now, back to the action. Or at least the lull before the storm...

A solitary man slowly trudged up the sandy hill before him, the dune sloping and leading away from the house he was supposed to have been at, his hat low and shading his eyes from the beating sun. He was miserable - the costume they called a guard’s uniform starch-stiff and with a dark wash that would’ve made a snake slither in satisfaction with all of the heat it drank up. The rifle case on his back was bulky and weighty, which only made the grimace on his face deepen as he became more and more aware of the copious amounts of sweat he was producing with each jostling step. Within seconds of having the ensemble on, he had firmly decided that this would be both his first and last day wearing it.

He glanced over his shoulder quickly, mentally assessing the distance between him and the house before resuming his walk and finally cresting the hill. Though really, he reflected to himself with another heavy step into the sand, he wasn’t sure the structure could truly be called a simple house. He knew people lived in that building, and while that was technically the definition of a house, he couldn’t help but think of it as a palace with all of its size and grandiosity.

So large was the property, in fact, that even from this distance the guard would’ve been barely a dot on the horizon from the front door. But from his perspective, he still had to glace up slightly to be able to take in the full form of the structure. He sighed softly.

Great.

He quietly slipped past the peak of the hill and into the brush, disappearing as suddenly as if he was never even there to begin with.

He came across an elegant maid sitting cross legged in the tall grass, listening intently through a headset as she twiddled a few dials on the high tech sound board in her lap. At the rustling of the guard coming into view she glanced up quickly, an excuse clearly already trying to form on her lips, but her panic morphed into a smile as she recognized the man’s face.

“There you are! What took so long?” She exclaimed, a masculine voice contrasting sharply with her feminine features.The man wouldn’t admit to it, but he let out a small sigh of relief as the delicate face was pulled away and revealed the much more fitting features of Lupin III. “Take a seat Goemon, tell me what you found out.”

With a nod Goemon rapidly took off his rifle case and set it down, Zantetsuken’s handle poking out of the opening, before grabbing his cap and gently tossing it to the ground, running a hand through itchy hair. He wasn’t entirely sure how Jigen was able to wear hats all the time, they got much too uncomfortable much too fast for his liking. Finally comfortable again for the most part, he sat down close to Lupin to go over his findings.

“There are two other buildings on the property; the one on the side of the house is where the guards stay. I was able to easily infiltrate the ranks and find the guard schedule for the week.” Goemon’s face took on a serious look, briefly making eye contact with Lupin to make sure he had his attention. “There are many guards here Lupin, significantly more then there were at the museum. Are you sure we will be able to sneak by all of them?”

Lupin immediately gave an incredulous noise, physically waving off any concern with a free hand as he continued to fiddle with the sound board. “Goemon, buddy, I love you but you seriously worry too much! Now instead of that, why don’t you tell me about the other building?”

Goemon frowned at the dismissal, but moved on. “Well, the other building was not housing as we theorized. It was also not quite like another guard house, but if I had to present a theory, it seems to be a sort of kennel. I heard significant amounts of barking coming from it as I passed by, and there were very few windows so I was unable to glance in.”

Lupin hummed briefly in response, but otherwise remained silent.

Goemon blinked quickly in surprise. Frankly, he had expected a bit more than that as a response, but alright then. “That… was all I got from there. The guards were not allowed inside. I apologize for my lack of information.”

Lupin reached beside himself to grab something and then tossed it over to Goemon with a quick smile, finally looking up from his work. “No need to apologize, Naruto. That’s great stuff, exactly the kind of information I need. Take a look at that real quick, won’t you?” 

Actively ignoring the teasing, Goemon glanced down at the object in his hands. And, frankly, he would be hard pressed to describe what it was he was looking at. It was a legal pad, that much was easy, but it was covered in nonsensical writing, numbers that meant nothing to him, and some crude doodles - just about the only thing he really understood. He cracked a small smile at the one of a cartoon Lupin flipping off a very caricatured and angry-looking Pierre and one of Jigen as a dog wearing a bow tie. He closed his eyes in pretend understanding, knowing Lupin would just explain anyways, and sagely nodded, “Yes, intriguing.”

Lupin gave him a wide smile and took the half-ink half-paper pad back. “Right? See, nobody pays any mind to maids when they work in places like this. It was insanely easy to infiltrate the main house, and now with all the information you got, sneaking in should be a breeze!” He let out a laugh, a bit reminiscent of a cackle, and threw an arm around Goemon.

“It wasn’t an issue at all to get all the info I needed. The house part of the property is half house, half museum of  _ very _ expensive and rare antiquities. I also know that Pierre stays inside most of the time except during the night or during “excursions”, probably to steal some shit from natives, and that the Idol is being hidden somewhere in there.”

He pulled Goemon in closer, taking his voice down to a conspiratorial whisper. “Plus, I’ve planted a few bugs on and around the property. Just in case someone talks about anything else we might need to know!” He leaned out with a wicked grin, confidence shining out of him, “It’ll be no problem at all to get the whole gang in on this.”

Goemon gently removed Lupin’s arm, but stayed close to Lupin. “All of us? Are you sure?”

Lupin nodded rapidly, adamant. “Of course! Jigen would be pretty pissed if we left him behind on this. You and I both know he doesn’t like being left out of things.”

Goemon took a nervous breath in, deciding to finally voice his mounting concerns. “Yes, but… do you not suspect something is… different about him? Off?”

Lupin’s face and body tensed up noticeably, apparently bothered by this line of questioning. He let out a tense laugh, “What, like our gunslinger’s a dog? Then yeah, absolutely something is ‘off’.”

Goemon shook his head, desperately trying to clarify. “Not like that my friend, I mean about his... attitude. He has been strange since this whole debacle started, and I believe that it is, in fact, deteriorating.”

Lupin seemed to grow even more hesitant, his eyes refusing to meet Goemon’s. “Look, I’m sure that if something is up with Jigen, it’s because he’s become a dog against his will. He can’t talk, can’t smoke, and sure as hell can’t use his guns. Of course he’ll be a bit more grumpy than usual.” His eyes finally met Goemon’s again, a tight smile plastered on his face. “We just have to keep his spirits up! This is only temporary, don’t worry. And the minute we get our hands on that damn Idol, everything’s gonna be normal again. You’re not the only one who likes routine.”

Goemon allowed himself to feel comforted by Lupin’s words, the thief always managing to construct a solid argument in the face of any odds, so confident in everything he said that he had no issues convincing others too. So while Goemon was still mildly concerned, he was positive that, eventually, everything would turn out alright. So long as Lupin believed it would be.

Lupin finally grinned once more, actually genuine this time, and Goemon gave him a small smile in return. “How’s about you and me call it a day? We already got all we could here, the rest we’ll just have to put together back at the hotel. Besides, by the time we get back, the sun’ll have been down for hours.” His face suddenly took on a thoughtful look.

Goemon tilted his head slightly, wondering where his mind had gone off to. “Lupin?”

The thief’s eyes locked onto his in barely concealed worry. “Hey, how likely do you think it is that Jigen and Fujiko are at each other’s throats by now?”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fujiko sneezed violently. A sudden thing that took her by surprise. She was lucky, though - none of the nail polish she was delicately handling got anywhere on the couch.

Jigen gave her a soft noise, patiently not moving his paw from where it rested in Fujiko’s other hand.

Fujiko sighed, then sniffed lightly to clear her sinuses. “Thank you dear. I have no idea where that came from.” She leveled a glare at the nail polish bottle on the coffee table before turning back to Jigen and humming thoughtfully. “Maybe I’m allergic to ‘Unfrost my Heart’?”

Jigen jostled with a dog’s equivalent of a chuckle, almost dislodging the cucumbers resting delicately on his eyes.

Fujiko clicked her tongue in disapproval (it was hard to balance cucumbers on a dog, you know?) and resumed painting, the gentle background sounds of the television news station relaxing them both. Perhaps after the nail polish dried, and after all was said and done with the Idol, she could talk human Jigen into a spa day? On his dime, of course. Well,  _ maybe _ she’d contribute a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While researching solid nail polish names for the end of this chapter, I almost managed to convince D.D. to use "Muppets World Tour" by OPI as the silver color Fujiko put on Jigen... a loss, if you ask me (but still a pretty solid joke with a pretty color).
> 
> \- M.M.


	11. In the Dog House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A late night and some introspection - and some much needed rest.

It had been five days since the museum heist, and three since Lupin and Goemon had returned from Jean Pierre’s home, both thoroughly dusty and sleep-deprived. The humans of their gang had thrown themselves into the planning period of the new heist - Jigen hadn’t been included, mostly because he couldn’t really contribute anything in any language they would understand.

Jigen was actually completely fine with being left out. Planning wasn't exactly his forte, even as a human. There was also another reason, which was significantly more worrying. While the humans around him planned and fussed, he had to do the same about the worsening gaps in his memory.

He hadn't noticed immediately, too busy trying desperately to remember who Fujiko and Goemon used to be to him and sticking close to Lupin. Now, though, with nothing to distract him, he was forced to confront the fact that things he knew for sure even just yesterday were becoming foggy and unsure. Ever since he realized the disturbing, growing trend, he made sure to continuously list off things he remembered each night. 

Which is how he knew for a fact that, just yesterday, he could say exactly where he grew up. Today? Sure, he was born in America, but there was nothing else in his mind, no matter how hard he reached.

Which could maybe indicate an issue.

He wasn’t gonna tell anyone though, he was already certain of that. Partially because he didn’t know how he would, yeah, but mostly because he didn’t know why he should. It would only lead to unnecessary worry and panic and that did  _ not  _ sound like a good time for anyone in Jigen’s mind. Besides, why let the others know about a problem that wouldn’t exist after tomorrow?

Speaking of which, the others had left a few hours ago to their shared room across the hall. So for the first time in a while, Jigen had found himself alone with Lupin - the man in question sitting on the couch and pouring over documents. Lupin was hunched over and hadn’t moved for longer than Jigen thought was healthy, the clock above Lupin’s head ticking the seconds away and past midnight.

This would absolutely  _ not _ do, Jigen thought to himself with a huff. See, the thing about Lupin was that, while he was technically a genius, he was still a complete and utter dumbass. A dumbass who couldn’t be bothered to take care of himself in any way that mattered most of the time. It was easier to bully him into self care when Jigen was human, but he was muleheaded enough that he would figure something out.

Jigen silently padded over to Lupin from his previous sentry point in the kitchen, steeling himself to do anything it took to pull Lupin away from his work. It wasn’t like the plan wasn’t finished - the others wouldn’t have left if that were the case. Lupin was just a perfectionist, refusing to stop working even if the plan was as seemingly perfect as it could get. 

It took Lupin a few moments to notice the large dog at his feet, staring at him and sighing as comically loud as a dog could. Which really just went to show how invested he got in things when he wanted to. When he finally did notice, he gave a tired smile and moved his hand to ruffle Jigen’s ears lightly. “Hey there buddy, sorry. Thought you’d be asleep by now?”

Jigen quirked his head to the side, narrowed his eyes, and raised what he could of his eyebrows, delivering a flawless ‘are you kidding me?’ look that he was sure Lupin would recognize from past experience. From the weak wince Lupin gave, Jigen knew he had.

Lupin’s gaze fell as he glanced at the papers in front of him solemnly, but didn’t move to get up like Jigen strongly believed he should have. “Jigen buddy, I really don’t think I need to sleep just yet. You know I have to make sure everything is set for tomorrow. I just can’t risk y- uh. Y’know, can’t risk anything, ah, going wrong.” He looked away, a small flush on his face.

Jigen huffed, peeved that he would have to resort to petty measures, but not even remotely sorry for what he was about to do. Quick as a flash, Jigen snatched the first thing he could from the table in front of Lupin, which turned out to be the floor plan of the main house, and took off. He heard Lupin’s yelp of protest behind him, but ignored it in favor of sprinting as fast as possible towards the bedroom. With just enough room to spare, Jigen dove under the bed, floor plan and all.

“Jigen! No! Come on, give that back right now.” Lupin came barrelling into the room and dropped to lay on the ground, coming suddenly face-to-face with the smug mug of one gunslinger extraordinaire - who just so happened to also be a dog right now. He desperately tried reaching in, but couldn’t fit anything else past his arm which Jigen easily shimmied away from. “I’m serious, that’s really important and I can’t have you damaging it!”

Jigen gave a low growl and bared his teeth, not about to back down from his stance on bedtime. If Lupin wanted the plan back, he would have to get in bed right now - Jigen was making that clear as day.

Lupin cursed under his breath, pulling his arm out from under the bed and slamming a fist on the ground in frustration. He stared at Jigen, who rapidly took on the challenge of a staring contest, neither of them willing to back down just yet. Lupin cursed again after a few seconds, louder, and glanced away first. “Damn it Jigen, I don’t need this from you right now. Don’t you get how important this is?” He dragged his hand over his face, looking equal parts tired and pissed off. “I can’t believe that even as a dog you’re doing this. I don’t need you telling me how to live my life!”

_ I don’t need you- _ , Jigen’s blood ran cold. For only the second time since he’d changed, Jigen re-remembered something - something important. How could… that have happened to his memory of the argument they’d had? They never fought,  _ how _ could he have forgotten something like  _ that _ ? Lupin had said… well, he’d made it abundantly clear that he didn’t  _ need _ Jigen.

Jigen felt his ears droop, and his tail that had been wagging from the adrenaline rush of the chase stopped suddenly. How could he forget that? And why did he have to remember this  _ now _ ? Now, while he was stuck as a good-for-nothing dog and couldn’t do anything about it. At least as a human they could’ve talked about it. As a dog he could do jack all.

Did Lupin really hate him that much? Well, hate was probably too strong a word - expendable seemed more appropriate. Gunslingers were a dime a dozen, and it was quantity over quality really. Even Jigen could understand that. And, heck, why not just stick to being a dog? He’d have more reason to be there - close to the gang - than before. Distantly, Jigen recognized the mournful whine echoing around the bedroom was coming from him.

Lupin's face crumbled instantly, his suddenly wide eyes brought out even further by his paling face. “No, no no no, Jigen! I’m sorry, please don’t- it’s alright, see? Right?” He shot up rapidly, his ankles and feet taking the place of his pallid face in Jigen’s line of sight. Pants were quickly tossed across the room, followed by the softer  _ thwump _ of a shirt. The bed dipped, and Jigen couldn’t even see Lupin’s feet anymore.

Lupin’s face appeared once more just as fast as it had gone - except upside down this time and hanging from the bed. “See buddy? Don’t- don’t worry, okay? I’m in bed, I’ll be asleep in no time, see?” He disappeared again, and the sound of exaggerated snoring began to fill the room.

Slowly, still feeling shattered - Lupin’s presence both acting as a balm and an acid to his soul - Jigen crawled out from underneath the bed. He had left the plan under there, just in case this was a trick, but also because he just couldn’t be bothered to worry about it anymore. As he glanced up, he saw Lupin, sprawled across the bed and snoring his head off. He was obviously faking, and pretty terribly too, but it really didn’t help the ruse when one of Lupin’s eyes opened to check on him and then closed, painfully tight, just as suddenly. It was just so  _ Lupin _ , so like his best friend to try to cheer him up by any means necessary, that Jigen found his tail slowly starting to wag once more.

Lupin’s inability to let Jigen truly start to mope was one of the things Jigen lov- well. One of the things he strongly appreciated about him. Filled with a familiar warm feeling and a familiar refusal to acknowledge it, Jigen hopped up on the bed, gently stepping over Lupin and spinning until he felt comfortable. He laid down with a small huff and settled.

Lupin turned over, bringing himself face to face with Jigen. By this point, he had stopped with the fake snoring and was now just staring. They lay like that for a bit, silently looking into each other’s eyes. Lupin cleared his throat and glanced down, “You know, Fujiko isn’t gonna like fur on the bed.”

Jigen didn’t feel like dignifying that with a response, so he just rolled his eyes as best he could at the man. He couldn’t keep his mind from going back to their argument the more he looked at Lupin though. Maybe he had over reacted. Lupin didn’t work with just anyone, nor did he try and make them feel better by being ridiculous. That was just a thing for the team and Jigen. ‘ _ Then again _ ’, a traitorous little voice snaked out of Jigen’s doubts, ‘ _ You’re much cuter this way. They love you so much more this way. Who’s to say you shouldn’t stay like this? _ ’

Lupin must have caught on to his mood, even if he didn’t know exactly what it was about, because his face deepened in a frown. He reached over gently, pausing only a moment before placing his hand on Jigen’s fuzzy cheek, not moving but comforting nonetheless. He murmured, “I know you must be worried about tomorrow. I am too, honestly. But… I promise you that, no matter what happens, we’re going to fix this. I swear on my Gramp’s grave, we’ll get you back and as grumpy as ever. I- we need you back.”

Jigen felt… honestly he didn’t know how he felt. What he did know however, without a shred of a doubt, was that he believed Lupin. So he nuzzled into the hand against him, feeling more comforted than he ever remembered being. Lupin gave him a small, but genuine smile, and finally let his head hit the pillow. Like magic, he was out like a light.

Jigen stared closely at his face and waited a moment, then another, until it seemed that Lupin really was asleep - then he finally allowed himself to snuggle closer. Finding himself as close to Lupin as he dared, he closed his eyes with a sigh, and was asleep just as fast as Lupin.

Neither of them would know this, but both of their dreams that night featured a lovely beach day with their very best - and very human - friend. Or at least friend through word and… well, something else through action. Quite a bit of action. But neither would let the other be any wiser about said dream the next morning, so it really isn’t even worth mentioning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/assets/photo/65610021-480px.jpg  
> The beautiful baby boy that watches over our shared google doc. Also sorry for how late this is! But still technically Sunday B)
> 
> \- DDMM


	12. Call in the K-9s

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now, some different heroes will be in focus... and hopefully they can keep theirs.

Most of the “higher ups” in pretty much every department around the world considered being assigned to the infamous Inspector Zenigata a punishment. Anywhere he went, whispers followed - the man was brash, he was foolish, and couldn’t catch Lupin III if his life depended on it. In fact, when they had assigned Ito Kioshi to work with him, they had fully intended it to be a punishment. And he knew it. Turns out, talking back to your superiors isn’t the way to get a raise or commendation. Who knew?

And, frankly, at first Ito had actually considered it as the punishment it was meant to be. Who wanted to be saddled with the agency laughingstock? Certainly not someone aiming to be labeled as the best and brightest of their generation, a legend only known for working with the best of the best. But, as he came to know Zenigata better, as he actually met him, spent time with the man, he found his opinion slowly shifting.

He was larger than life - and that wasn’t just because, at 5’11”, Zenigata had a solid 6 inches on Ito. His voice, no matter what was happening, boomed out from his chest and around any area he was in. And even stronger? The man’s presence and emotions. He seemed to feel and express emotions in such an intense way that no one around him could comprehend it, rapidly moving from one extreme to another. Ito could barely keep up - not that he was particularly inclined to - but it was certainly a bit off-putting at first.

But he was very… well, genuine and forthright would be how he would say it if he was trying to make it into a compliment. And Ito couldn’t help but find that quality a little endearing.

Take for example, his mood upon entering the Cairo Police Department that dreary morning. Bright and very, _very_ painfully early, Zenigata strutted in with a bright smile on his face while humming out some completely unidentifiable, but undeniably chipper, tune. Beside him, the difference might as well have been night and day. Ito trudged along, clinging desperately to his coffee, praying that he could both turn invisible and absorb all of the caffeine in the world - right this second. Then maybe he could deal with both Zenigata and the ridicule that came along with being seen with him. Maybe.

The background noise of the station quickly petered out the further the two walked in, the station silent except for an officer excitedly talking about her encounter with a cosplayer and his dog earlier that week. Even sleep-addled and caffeine deprived, Ito couldn’t help but crack a tiny smile at the blatant refusal to go with the rest of the group into uneasy silence. And maybe a bit because of the hilariously adorable sight she came across - Ito was a teensy bit jealous of her, honestly.

But unlike Ito’s painful need to be aware of everything and everyone around him, Zenigata paid them no mind as he made his way briskly to the temporary desks given to them by the station. His briefcase came down with a loud _thwack_ that made everyone in the surrounding area jump, and he continued to hum as he cracked it open and arranged his papers.

Ito took a few breaths and decided to try and ignore them himself. He partially succeeded as he collapsed into the seat opposite Zenigata. It had almost been a week since the Cairo Museum Heist, and they still didn't have any leads on the whereabouts of Lupin and his crew. The situation was weighing heavily on Ito’s mind, the young policeman unable to accept failure or anything close to it. They had small things, sure; a frivolously beautiful woman seen at a cafe on one end of town, a samurai in the park on the other. But nothing truly concrete, nothing they could go off of.

And, most importantly, not one damn clue on where Lupin could be. 

Ever since that first day and its confusing events, Zenigata had been thoroughly convinced Lupin wouldn't be leaving the country until… well, _something_ happened. Something big, probably, as was Lupin's want to do. And they weren't quite sure what it had to do with the stolen Idol, but Zenigata had made it clear it was somehow involved in this whole mess. Just neither of them were sure exactly how.

Ito was rudely torn from his inner musings by a newspaper being slapped violently - or enthusiastically, depending on your perspective - down in front of him. He glanced up at the man at fault, Zenigata looking expectantly down at him with raised eyebrows. “What do you think of this?”

On the paper was a blurry picture, and Ito couldn’t help but cringe at the horror blossoming inside him as he looked on. Zenigata was captured there in all of his clumsy glory, falling down the steps of a plane - probably on their first day in Cairo. The headline above it sneered, **“Head ‘Detective’ of Lupin Case Reaches Cairo - Lock Up Your Wives and Valuables!”**

The paper then went on to explain his many, many failures to capture Lupin III in painful detail, all while painting Zenigata in the worst light imaginable - an idiot, a terrible flirt, a buffoon. All of which Ito thought wasn’t fair in the slightest. The Inspector was a shy and brilliant man who had arrested plenty of people. Just not any Lupin-shaped ones. Well, no Lupin-shaped ones which had actually been the man.

Ito winced at the sharp critiques coming from the paper and tried to look up into Zenigata’s eyes to gauge how he felt about it, but the Inspector’s hat was dipped low over his face, making that impossible. “Sir… I’m sorry. I think we might not be entirely welcome here.”

Zenigata cracked a small grin before he threw his head back with a genuine, booming laugh, and Ito would forever deny that he almost jumped out of his seat right there and then from surprise. “That’s where you're wrong Ito! This article,” he slammed his hand down on the paper in question and leaned in close, eyes sparkling, “means that people know we’re here. That Lupin is here! That’s why I took the opportunity to do... this!”

Zenigata snatched up a sheet from his desk, and it was quickly slipped over the newspaper; a crisp, white flyer plastered with the familiar faces of four thieves. At the top, the words " **HAVE YOU SEEN US?** " were practically screamed out, and the bottom was full of worryingly thorough contact information for both Zenigata and himself.

Ito eyed it apprehensively. “Inspector, you gave out my number and email? And is that even a real address? Please tell me it isn’t.”

Zenigata waved a hand in dismissal and scoffed. “Don’t worry about all of that, my friend! You’re probably safe, I promise. Here’s what’s really important - I spent all night hanging these beauties around the city. So if Lupin even _thinks_ about showing his weaselly mug, someone is bound to see and recognize him!” He fell back into his chair with a grin, clearly pleased with himself for this stroke of brilliance.

Ito sighed, feeling a familiar headache coming on. “Sir, not to seem insubordinate, but do you honestly think that this,” he picked up the flyer and let it dangle between two of his fingers, “will work?”

Zenigata rolled his shoulders back and huffed out a breath, his eyes steely as he looked out of one of the station windows to the morning sun. “Ito, my friend, there isn’t anything else to do. For whatever reason, Lupin’s gone dark, and we’re no closer to finding the owner of the discarded clothing. But in our line of work, we can’t let dead ends stop us! We won’t! In the name of justice, I’ll do whatever it takes to find Lupin, as I always have!”

By the end of his speech, he had shoved away from his chair, his voice booming around the quiet station, standing tall and clearly visible for all to see. Ito sunk lower into his seat, praying that he could hide from the gazes being sent their way from nearly everyone in the station - but the Inspector had a point. Perhaps it wasn’t to the same extent or in the exact same ways, however Ito believed in justice with his heart and soul, and felt the need to catch criminals just as fiercely as Zenigata did. It was why he was doing this job in the first place, and why he agreed to ‘assist’ Zenigata instead of just being fired for insubordination. He couldn’t stand not being able to make that difference.

Zenigata finally seemed to come back to himself, frantically glancing around at the judgemental looks and promptly sitting with a blush as his heaving chest started to slow. "Besides, ah, we won't know if it'll work or not unless we try."

As if on cue, a uniformed officer approached them with a phone extended out towards the flustered pair. "Inspector Zenigata. Inspector Ito. Someone's on the line for you, he says he has information on Lupin III."

Zenigata was a blur, lunging for the phone and practically slamming it against his ear. "Hello, hello this is Inspector Zenigata!"

A tinny, strangely accented voice spoke from the phone, but Ito could still understand from where he sat. "Ah yes, Inspector? Lovely to make your acquaintance. My name is Jean Pierre, and I have reason to believe Lupin III will be stealing from my residence today. How quickly could you be here?"


	13. Look What the Pooch Dragged In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 13 just might really be the unluckiest number of them all, as the gang is about to find out...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, this chapter is a /big one/, partially because it's kind of a "season finale" type of deal, but also because the two of us are going on vacation next week! Which is great and super exciting, but we're not sure we'll be able to get out another chapter that weekend unfortunately. But that just means we'll have lots of new and cool stuff next Sunday! We hope you all understand, and thank you so much for all of the support we've been getting - it really means a lot to us.
> 
> \- M.M.

Things were  _ hazy, confusion, fear. _

Memories flitted through his mind,  _ but were they really memories? How could he be sure? _

He wasn’t. And that terrified him most of all.

_ Fear. Pain. Fear, run away! _

_ Can’t. Can’t leave Him.  _

_ Anger. _

He felt  _ regret _ ,  _ shame, _ for signing on to work for Him. But he needed the money, had to get out of Madagascar without too many questions asked. No one would even realize he was gone. And it was only supposed to be temporary - how could he have ever guessed that  _ this _ would happen?

Anything from before Him was fuzzy, distant. Or was there ever anything at all? There must have been, because any time he tried to dwell on the past, he felt flashes of  _ concern, lust, partner. _

And he could remember a hotel room filled with smoke - Pall Mall because that was all they had. He remembered a warm bed, a warmer body nestled beside him. They had been younger than they must both be now, and both riding the high of a successful hit gone as right as possible. He couldn’t recall why they hadn’t worked. Maybe that was for the best.

_ Grief, sharp longing. A want, a need to be cared for. Was that himself whimpering? _

Sharp footsteps and the cloying scent of a disgustingly priced cologne alerted him to a person entering the room, and he tried desperately to hide his whimpers. It was Him, of course it was.

He looked down at the prone, furred body beneath Him and sneered. "Quiet with that dreadful noise you mutt, you'll give me a headache."

The sound caught in his throat instantly.

He continued walking until He came to stand next to a glass case, the one he had been told to "guard with his life". He grinned, a sight that made his skin crawl, and let out a low chuckle. "And my goodness, what a  _ fool _ the infamous Lupin has turned out to be, hm? So cocky, and thus so, so easily tricked. I almost feel bad for his so-called ‘friends’, don’t you?" Klaus let his eyes drift to the statues at the entrance to the room, which held small security cameras in their eyes. It took everything in him not to let loose a growl at the man towering above him.

_ Hate, HATE,  _ **_HATE_ ** _ , tear Him to  _ **_shreds_ ** _ , loathing. _

Jean spun on his heel to face him and lowered a hard hand between his ears, that disgusting grin still in place.

_ One bite.  _ **_Bite_ ** _ him, do it god dammit. _

"Lupin wishes he could hold even half of the power I do, Clause. But it only goes to the worthy, I suppose, and a simple, petty thief just doesn’t shine a light on someone like me. Wouldn’t you agree, my most loyal friend?"

Klaus couldn’t remember who Lupin was supposed to be, but there was… something else.

_ The figure in the museum, not the loud one. There was more beard than there used to be. It suited him. _

Klaus was snapped from his thoughts as He tapped the glass smugly. “That equally foolish Inspector should arrive in approximately an hour, and then they’ll all see just how idiotic they are!" He laughed, a self-absorbed, chilling thing.

A phone ringing cut him off, and an ugly frown settled on his face as he answered. "Yes, speaking… what?...  _ What _ ?!" He yelled, face rapidly reddening. "You idiots! You absolute buffoons! How the hell could you have-," he sucked a deep breath in through clenched teeth. "Just get into position, we'll have to improvise. Imbéciles!" He hung up with a harsh click.

He closed his eyes and took another deep breath, then another, until the rage evident on His face seemed to fade. Finally, He glanced at Klaus with a tight smile that didn't come even close to reaching his eyes. "I do hope you are ready, Clause. It seems that they're early."

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lupin III was a man that oozed confidence. That was just who he was, and it was a persona that he had carefully cultivated for years. And he had long prided himself on being able to keep up that image no matter what - and nothing, at least publicly, had ever stopped him from accomplishing that.

He was, however, not confident about this heist. Not to say that he didn’t have confidence in himself or the others - oh, he had all the confidence in the world for them, and he had plenty of reason to be cocky about his own abilities. And, to be quite honest, the man they were going up against? Simply an overconfident trust-fund baby who couldn’t manage to get water out of a boot by himself even if the instructions were on the heel.  


But, there was something in Lupin that felt… well,  _ off _ about this heist. What if something went wrong? What if, in some cruel twist of fate, they don’t find the Idol? Or what if… 

Look. Lupin was able to admit to himself - and only himself - that he could be a very selfish man. And if that selfishness translated into hoarding people and making them into a family bonded for life, then that was nobody’s business but his own. And that meant that, ultimately, Jigen was  _ his _ , and no one got to mess with what was his. Especially not with who was, frankly, his favorite. No one.

Because if something  _ did  _ happen, something that would lead to Jigen being harmed, well… Lupin didn’t want to think further on that. Nothing good would come from that.

The best thing to do, then, was to not think about it at all. 

So the heist was set to happen early in the morning. And yes, basic heist knowledge would dictate never pulling something off in broad daylight - but that only goes if you lack the talent. Lupin knew he was talented, and with the others, he became very,  _ very _ talented.

Besides, that was the best time to avoid as many guards as possible - harkening back to the whole “heists usually happen at night” thing, there are usually more guards posted after sunset. So avoiding the sparse and sleepy morning crew was easy, and slipping into the mansion went flawlessly.

From there, it was just a matter of finding their way around the sprawling expanse of property. Like all homes owned by narcissistic asshole men, the interior design of the place was best described as a five-year-old's idea of a cool house. Grand staircases, painful minimalism, weird art and statues everywhere, and, though Lupin had only caught a glimpse, he was pretty sure there was a marble statue of Pierre in the living room.

The ground floor wasn't important though - their real goal was much higher. Five stories up and completely isolated from the rest of the world, the top floor was Pierre's own personal museum. At another time, in another situation, Lupin might have been tempted to steal from the impressive collection of priceless artifacts. But as it stood right now, they were there for one thing only and none of them were about to be distracted.

Now you’d think that four people - including one dog-shaped - would have trouble sneaking through thousands of dollars of security, if not millions. And that would certainly be the case if it weren’t for the fact that all four of them were the best of the best; a fact that always brought a small, smug smile to Lupin’s face. And it was actually incredibly easy, even more so than usual. With overworked and under-paid guards falling asleep on the job, and security cameras clearly visible even to an average Joe, slipping by and up the stairs was child’s play, even for a dog.

And finally,  _ finally _ , they reached the gargantuan fifth floor. Wall to wall paintings - mostly stolen, often ugly - and artifacts scattered all around on various surfaces indicated an absolute lack of decoration skill and incredibly eclectic tastes from whoever put the room together. It was naturally lit, the morning sunlight streaming in from the floor-to-ceiling windows sparsely lining the walls between paintings, and reflecting off of a single glass chandelier in the center of the room. There was a lot to unpack, so Lupin signaled to the others to split up and cover more ground.

With quick nods, Fujiko drifted left as Goemon went right. The only one who didn’t split from Lupin was Jigen, who hadn’t left his side since they had woken up together that morning. Jigen had been quiet since then too, actually, which might not have been odd for an actual dog, but for Jigen? It was worrisome. Lupin shrugged it off, however; he didn’t have any other option. Whatever was bothering Jigen would be no more once he was human again, and he just had to keep telling himself that.

10 minutes passed with them all meticulously searching the floor, then 15, then 20, and the hopeful, almost manic mood Lupin had been in initially rapidly waned. It wasn’t here.

Not even Jigen’s sensitive sense of smell had any results, leading to all four of them dejectedly reconvening in the center of the room, Lupin’s breath speeding up as his barely concealed panic began to rise. He began to pace around in a tight circle, running a hand roughly through his hair and muttering under his breath.

Fujiko and Goemon shared a concerned look, and Fujiko expectantly raised her eyebrows, motioning for Goemon to say something. The samurai cleared his throat and spoke softly, “Lupin, you must calm yourself, my friend. Allowing your emotions to run wild will not find what we seek any faster.”

Lupin whirled around to glare daggers at the samurai, who met his gaze with steely eyes in return. With two long strides, Lupin was nose to nose with Goemon, jabbing his finger aggressively into Goemon’s chest. “It’s here, and I know it is! We all know it! I fucking saw it! Why would he have moved it? Where would he have...” Lupin’s voice cracked and tapered off, and his hand dropped back lifelessly to his side, anger draining fast. “Sorry. Sorry, I just…”

Fujiko gently stepped over to him, placing a hand on Lupin’s shoulder. “Darling, we’ll find it. I believe it’s here too, we just haven’t found it quite yet. Right, Goemon?” But as she turned to acknowledge him, they both noticed Goemon’s attention wasn’t on either on them anymore - it was on Jigen.

Jigen, who had started softly growling the moment Goemon had gotten closer to Lupin, and had only gotten louder as Fujiko joined in too. And in the now quiet expanse of the room, his growling seemed to be louder than anything, echoing and impossible to ignore. Lupin’s chest started to rise and fall rapidly again, and he could almost swear he could hear his own heart.

Jigen’s teeth were starting to show, and his sights were set on Fujiko and Goemon - who both seemed rightly taken aback by Jigen's hostility. Lupin approached him slowly with a hand extended, moving down to his level. “Jigen? Buddy, hey what’s wrong?”

Goemon, ever the one to notice and mention differences first, narrowed his eyes in contemplation.

“Is there anyone coming? Do you hear something we can’t? Can you bark-”

“It’s us.”

Lupin glanced over his shoulder, hurt and confusion in his eyes. Fujiko looked at Goemon in shock too, turning to the samurai who hadn’t yet broken eye contact with Jigen. “I am not certain, but I believe that he is not sure of Fujiko and myself. I do not believe he has been since his transformation. But it may be getting worse.”

At the mention of Fujiko's name and Goemon's worried voice, Jigen’s growling ceased, leaving him cocking his head to the side in confusion and surprise.

Lupin looked frantically between the two, his head starting to shake as his hands did the same. He quickly moved his hands to cradle Jigen’s face, more for his own comfort then Jigen’s. “Wh- What are you saying? That he doesn’t trust you guys? He doesn’t trust your intentions?” He narrows his eyes which were quickly being overcome by panic, desperately glancing around the room and at his companions.

Goemon finally broke his eye contact with Jigen and looked down at Lupin, a pitying expression on his face. “You must see it Lupin; he has not been himself. Jigen has been tense around me for days, something he has never been.”

Lupin’s face started to twist up in fury again, “So what? He’s been turned into a dog! Of course he’s gonna be a bit wary, even around us! What the hell do you expect from him?”

Fujiko chimed in, doubt beginning to show itself in her face as well. “Actually, Lupin, he hasn’t been tense around me. Well, maybe at first but… that day we went out together, it seemed like he was having a great time with me! That-” she glanced at Jigen, who looked apprehensive now. “Well, as much as I loved it, that really wasn’t like Jigen at all.”

Lupin had gone pale by this point, sick to his stomach - because the points brought up  _ did _ make sense, and there wasn’t the option to ignore them anymore now that it was all out in the open. None of those things were like Jigen, who cared very deeply for Goemon, and whose disdain for Fujiko was almost legendary and was constantly being expressed. But Lupin couldn’t bring himself to agree just yet. At least not verbally. If he did, then he’d have to come to terms with the fact that something was seriously wrong with Jigen and he just couldn’t handle that.

And if something was wrong, then what did that mean? The words he shouted in anger just a few days previous came back to him, even though it felt like lifetimes ago at this point. Their argument, the need to be petty, to show Jigen that he couldn’t get away with saying whatever he wanted to - but the things he said only succeeded in making Lupin feel terrible at their utterance. 

Jigen had threatened to leave then, causing Lupin to spiral into a panic because Jigen couldn’t  _ leave _ . Could he? Not forever, not because of Lupin? Not when he needed Jigen, and always knew he would? And he hoped, prayed that he felt the same, but could never ask if he left for good. But then when this whole mess started, and Jigen seemed alright - albeit a dog - Lupin hadn’t even thought about the fight once.

So Jigen had to be alright, he  _ had _ to. Because if he wasn’t… if he wasn’t…

Lupin took a shaky breath and frantically dug through his pockets, clutching his prizes and holding them up triumphantly. Displaying them to the others he grinned. “Alright, you guys want another memory test then? Here!” He held his hands out to Jigen, giving him a good look at the two brands of cigarettes, one in each. Then, rearing back, he threw them - not far, but far enough to be apart. His grin widened, “Alright Jigen, show them you’re fine. Bring me my cigs buddy!”

Jigen trotted after them, and Lupin shot a smug look to the others, whose eyes were trained on Jigen and obviously full of worry. A few moments passed, then Jigen was back, clutching a cigarette carton in his mouth, and gently passing them to Lupin. He kept his eyes on the ground at Lupin’s feet.

Lupin held the carton up confidently. “See? He’s fine! No need to worry at all-” The slow looks of horror descending on his friends’ faces stopped him instantly. Confused, he looked at the package, which he hadn’t read before - marked in big blocky letters. Pall Malls. Lupin felt his heart stop as his breath caught and his blood ran cold. He turned slowly to Jigen, a horrified look on his face as he stared down at the mutt who still hadn’t looked up from the ground.

Lupin stumbled back in shock, suddenly gasping for breath, and only keeping his balance because Goemon was there to catch him. He gulped, mouth dry. “Jigen… Wha- Are you forgetting things? Are you-” His blood started to boil again, not because of Jigen, but because of the situation as a whole. And the bastard Frenchman who caused it. “Are you even Jigen anymore?! Please, god, please...”

Jigen flinched at that and looked up at him. He stepped forward imploringly, eyes locked on Lupin’s face.

Then there was a blur.

Lights hidden in the ceiling suddenly came on, almost reminiscent of the Cairo Museum heist, blinding everyone for a moment. Once his vision cleared, Lupin looked up desperately to find Jigen. He didn’t want to believe what he saw. Five feet away from where Jigen had originally stood, a new dog towered over him, clutching at his throat with glistening canines and roughly yanking its head to the side. An agonized yelp from Jigen and then there was fur and blood, god, too much blood, everywhere.

“Jigen!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, exciting news: we have a tumblr now where D.D. posts art sometimes, I provide memes, and we have, as D.D. says, "a grand old time". The link is below!
> 
> https://madmoddamdom.tumblr.com/


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